NeoSmart Technologies reports on what the upcoming RTM of the Microsoft .NET 3.0 Framework means, both for developers and those seeking a look at what's coming from Microsoft's direction. It includes the positive implications this has on Microsoft's laggy development process and the benefits it'll provide to developers and system programmers too.
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Member since:2006-07-28
Is this the project that used to be called Sparkle?
All these code names are confusing (at least to me), but I believe Sparkle is a designer tool. WPF/E is the actual plugin browser engine that will run XAML, Javascript, and CIL code. It's actually a subset of WPF.
To some degree, Microsoft must shoulder the burden of making sure their proprietary frameworks operate on (at least) Mac and Linux.
Microsoft is doing the Mac engine themselves. The demo actually shows it running on a Mac (Safari I guess), and IE and Firefox on windows.
Is this WPF/E for Linux port more-or-less the extent of this effort?
A third party is doing the port.
Linux has it's own cross-platform development frameworks that work well on Windows, including Mono, so it's not like Linux needs a complete .NET framework from Microsoft.
I'm guessing that you'll be able to use the Mono compiler on Linux and Mac. I doubt Microsoft is porting any compilers or other tools over.
Member since:2006-07-28
But as I mentioned before, you don't need a CIL compiler to develop for WPF/E (unlike Flash which has to be compiled down). You'll be able to write the XAML markup and javascript and send it as is - like a normal web page.
But things should get real interesting once this is released. Since applets pretty much died off, and despite the fact that Macromedia (Adobe) has only recently with their new framework understood the RIA market, Flash has been really the only game in town when it comes to really rich RIAs. The stuff that goes beyond the capabilities of AJAX, or at least makes it a lot simpler from a traditional thick client developer perspective.
I think WPF/E has a huge advantage that it doesn't have to be compiled down like Flash, but Flash has huge browser market penetration numbers - something like 98% of all browsers have Flash 6 and above.
I wouldn't be surprised if Adobe or a third party wrote a compiler for a subset of Java targetting Flash bytecode for the new Flash 9 JIT engine or a later version of the engine. Echo2 and the new GWT seems to point to the fact that many developers prefer to develop in a more familiar language, instead of the limited usage ActionScript 3.0.
Member since:
2005-07-08
Is this the project that used to be called Sparkle?
The WinFX/WPF/.NET whatever you call it looks like pretty cool stuff for Windows application developers. The traditional challenge in pushing a new development framework is that developers don't relish the idea of moving from a familiar technology to something new.
Additionally, Microsoft now has the challenge of convincing the technical management at 3rd-party software vendors that .NET won't lock their products to Windows. To some degree, Microsoft must shoulder the burden of making sure their proprietary frameworks operate on (at least) Mac and Linux.
Is this WPF/E for Linux port more-or-less the extent of this effort?
As long as it allows proprietary .NET applications to run on Linux, that will make most people happy. Linux has it's own cross-platform development frameworks that work well on Windows, including Mono, so it's not like Linux needs a complete .NET framework from Microsoft.