This article discusses a “Minority Report”-alike user interface developed at Microsoft (video here). In the meantime, Windows Forms 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 (both codenamed “Whidbey”) are the next release of Microsoft’s smart client platform and tools.
Wave Goodbye to the Old User Interface; Windows Forms 2.0 Preview
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
hate to say that the software development solution from MS is still the best in the industry.
qt looks like the only contender yet the qt-build KDE still not wat i expect for a desktop sigh…
a linux supporter
Well,
that’s right but consider how much man-power(50-100 ?? don’t know but sure many!) is behind WindowsForms2. I think, if you would give QT the same man-power it would evolve similar too !
…a few pennies from me
I think that’s great– I have to say, the UI they used on “MR” was probably the best futuristic implimentation I have ever seen in a movie. Much better than the uh, fancy, super accurate graphics in “Hackers” ;0)
I really like the idea of controlling screen elements with hand gestures.
If I have to write a database front end, I have to work twice as hard on OS X then I do with Windows VB type solution
Well. Maybe you should consider learning a better language than basic.
point and click development is lame.
VB has made a generation of lazy developers. there is a reason they do not even teach that language as a core requirement of any CS degree and that it is a part of a CIS degree.
BTW, every think that you could cut your time in half if you did a cross platform solution like javascript?
vb.net is a full featured pure OO language now. I hate it because of the weird syntax, but it’s now legit. C# is my choice (or Java).
Javascript as a cross platform solution? Ummm. Try querying from a db with Javascript. And if you’re dissing languages, Javascript should be at the top of your list.
VB has made a generation of lazy developers. there is a reason they do not even teach that language as a core requirement of any CS degree and that it is a part of a CIS degree.
The whole point is that VB allows one to teach good programming techniques without the need of turning the student into a VB guru. Many years ago, before VB, Pascal was the language used to teach programming, now it is VB and I am sure if Microsoft has its way via throwing a heap of money at universities, you will either see C# or VB.NET be the successor.
As for the previous person talking about a database front end, if one had enough nouse, they would use 4th Dimension which has all the necessary point ‘n click stuff one requires to make a front end, and even with that said, why use a front end when one could make an intranet web front end to the database using PHP4?
anybody talking down on VB shows only he is clueless, instead of posting lame comments learn rather a few more languages
“you will either see C# or VB.NET be the successor.”
no, although everybody is hyping C# it will always be 50/50, they are two totally different flavors with most differences being totally opposites. There will always be people that love VB syntax and totally dislike C syntax and the other way around, there is nothing between, imho we need a compromise
“that’s right but consider how much man-power(50-100 ?? don’t know but sure many!) is behind WindowsForms2. I think, if you would give QT the same man-power it would evolve similar too ! ”
C++ is more then two times harder to use, in .NET attributes and reflection is everywhere (something missing or inferior in other languages), especially in Winows.Forms and their designers
Hmmm. FLEX is also an entry into the RIA space.
[ Andrew (IP: —.client.comcast.net) ]
And if you remember? There was a LOT of arm-waving in that movie. Gorilla arm, and other afflictions coming to a doctor’s office, near you.
quote: why use a front end when one could make an intranet web front end to the database using PHP4? <end qoute>
because i can write a db front end in delphi in literally a tenth of the time that i could with PHP – plus it will have rich controls and a much easier interface for the user. That saves tens of thousands of $$’s for companies.
that’s the reason mono/gnome/mozilla are trying to work together to combat Longhorn, in order to develop rich client applications – not HTML ones with their limited interfaces – that are automatically updated via the web.
“VB has made a generation of lazy developers.”.. huh?????
VB.NET is a natural evolution for VB6. It supports better “clean code” standards. If it cuts my development time in less than half over C(++) it makes me lazy??? g’me a break!!!.
My customers are happy because I can develop solutions faster with VB.NET with less memory headache than a comparable C++ solution timeline would take
“VB.NET is a natural evolution for VB6. It supports better “clean code” standards. If it cuts my development time in less than half over C(++) it makes me lazy??? g’me a break!!!. ”
I think the “lazy” part comes not so much from the language, as the ease of “cowboy programming” which allows code that’s not architectured as efficiently, and harder to maintain. Now how much VB.NET allieviates that, I don’t know? But “ease of…” shouldn’t draw away from doing it right.
Waving your hands around in front of the computer isn’t going to be any more “intuitive” to end users than a keyboard and mouse. Of course, if it’s in a movie, it must be a good idea.
http://research.microsoft.com/~dcr/minority/minority_report.asp
So you think that cutting development time by half is lazy! Remember many apps are written with the intention of throwing them away in 1 or 2 years, cutting dev time in half makes sense. The arguments against VB is simply CS elitism. Perhaps if the Linux community came down from it’s very high horse and produced stuff that actually worked then maybe it would get wider use than its current pathetic 1 percent of the desktop market.
So innovative!
http://www.windowsforms.net/WhidbeyFeatures/default.aspx?tabindex=4
Qt + KDE already has nearly all of these features:
WebBrowser Control: KHTML KPart
Active Document Host: KPart Container
SoundPlayer: Kaffeine KPart, KMPlayer KPart, etc.
DataGridView: QTable (even more powerful in Qt4)
SplitContainer: QSplitter
MaskedTextBox: Not in Qt/KDE currently.
Toolstrip: KDockWidget
Visual Style Support: QStyle
Client Configuration: KConfigXT
Improved Data Support: Not in Qt/KDE currently. Interview system in Qt4 sounds similar.
Layout: Windows finally gets a layout manager!
Do I sound bitter about Microsoft’s hype-marketing machine?
“Remember many apps are written with the intention of throwing them away in 1 or 2 years, cutting dev time in half makes sense. ”
Remember as well that a lot of code outlives, any kind of planned obsolesense, for various reasons.
“The arguments against VB is simply CS elitism.”
With the implicit statement being that there are no legitimate gievences against VB.
“Perhaps if the Linux community came down from it’s very high horse and produced stuff that actually worked then maybe it would get wider use than its current pathetic 1 percent of the desktop market.”
Well as the saying goes, results speak louder than complaints. Also I hear that Apple doesn’t have 90+ percent of the market. By your logic I guess they should be using VB then.
the guy talking about building a db frontend – do you mean from scratch (i.e. the db is not previously existing) and how many people are you making the db + frontend for?
i ask all this because depending on your answers to the above i would say filemaker 7 is way better and easier to not only make the db and frontend but to make a well designed frontend as well (to dispel the naysayers before they attack – no filemaker is not in the same category as access, it is way more powerful – just take a look here and see http://filemaker.com/products/fm_whatsnew.html)
now – if you meant connecting to a preexisting db or for really large db,a datawharehouse or mission critical db’s run by oracle/server/db then you are probably right.
however, as i mentioned in another forum, i am eagerly awaiting Xcode 3+. i think when Xcode gets to this version ms is going to be in serious trouble.
by this i do not mean that apple will suddenly steal all ms developers – rather that their crown of best ide on the planet is likely going to be lost. just look at what apple has done with fcp if you want to see a prototype of what of what will happen in the ads (application development suite) space. what i expect…
xcode 2+ – support for standards up to date (c/c++/java,etc)
– minor innovations not in other suites
– bring on par w/vstudio in featureset
– ide equivalent of 10.3
xcode 3+ – major innovations
– high productivity, ease of use
– will transcend vstudio before end of 3.x series
xcode 4+ – potentially disruptive innovations/advancements