Avalon’s 2004 Tech Preview is now available for developer consumption. It includes the WinFX SDK, and supports Windows XP and Windows 2003.
Avalon 2004 Tech preview now available
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Does this just provide tools for programming in Avalon, or does it change the user experience too?
Interesting that WinFX SDK is already available. Seems that the WinFX problem is one of implementation, rather than technology. Sorry if that was already obvious.
I use both but looks like mac are not so “over priced” anymore… And you could say an Audi is over priced comparing it to a nissan but we all know where the quality would be… Price usually reflect quality matey… And against M$ it does suck that we have to wait so long for a new OS. Mac OSX Tiger rocks! it really really does.
for the same price a carefuly selected PC can easily outperform a Mac and offers comparable quality. spend a few minuts searching on the net!
as for MS, take a look at a few of their software istalled on ur Mac if u wish (word, excel…);). XP has indeed become a decent os and as for all the security issues (even though most of them are IE related) i suggest u check out this link
http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsid=1798
and understand that ur Audi’s never failed cause it’s never been driven;)
I read your comment about linux and I may be wrong but it sounds like you are saying mac users can’t use linux? That is horribly wrong on your part. I am currently in Ubuntu on my iBook.
“video streams are rendered as texture mapped polygons at angles and reflections are generated on the fly. It’s so impressive and it will be out in March!”
Woooo, out in March!!! And I was under the impression that directx vmr 7/8/9 could do that on windows for like…. YEARS!
From MSDN:
“In terms of hardware requirements, this CTP requires at least a 1-GHz Pentium-class processor with 256 MB of RAM. A DirectX 9 capable graphics card (for example, ATI Radeon 9600, nVidia GeForce 4, or better) is strongly recommended.”
This is interesting indeed. I’d like to see some Avalon apps developed before Longhorn just for the heck of it, but the hardware requirements might scare off a few developers. 9600s and Geforce 4s aren’t $600 video cards, granted, they are only $100-150ish, but still not everyone meets the requirement.
That’s funny because Geforce 4s aren’t directx 9 capable.
I am a Windows/Linux user. But I have to be honest. I saw Steve Jobs demonstrations of Tiger. Damn it. I hope Microsoft copy anough from it. iChat is crazy. The little tools (forgot the name, (Linux has some of them already (gdesklets is similar)), the grapical script tool, the animations, etc. If Microsoft copies at least 75% of it, I will stick with windows. I forgot spotlight. If not, I will have to save some more to buy (like somebody said, overpriced, LOL. Qualitiy is always seem like that) Apple hardware.
I meant that the linux community is more focused on pc although Linux is flexible enough for both architectures. as u know most majore Linux releases are aimed for pc and not Mac.
obviously one reason could be the fact that Mac already has a good os that also has limited software availability compared to Windows.
It’s a bundled ISO that includes a CD of VS2005 with the WinFX dev tools.
I’ve just installed and then uninstalled it. I was hoping for at least some UI changes, but nada. It includes only SDK and engine for developing and running Avalon applications.
>> I’ve just installed and then uninstalled it. I was
>> hoping for at least some UI changes, but nada. It
>> includes only SDK and engine for developing and
>> running Avalon applications.
Heheh, did you really expect that your whole desktop would magically turn into a Longhornish one? Without changes to the underlying system? And for free? From Microsoft?
Heh.
Hahah.
Wahahah.
🙂
I guess that’s just the Visual C# express and not VS2005 beta? It’s only 265 meg.
Yeah, that’s what the article says, doesn’t it?!
Although the Avalon engine must be bundled with it, for one to develop Avalon applications.
“OSX Tiger rocks!”
Yes Core Audio/video is awesome and I can’t wait to see it work on Tiger and see developers take use of it.
MS really needs to get itself together and get Longhorn out. I’m looking forward to trying it out.
there is a conversion pack that transforms the look and feel of the xp os to longhorn. check out http://www.notebookforums.com and go to the dell xps forums and run a search on it…has screenshots. looks decent. i agree as to mac os x tiger being the best OS out there right now. DAMN!!
IE? Safari/Firefox
Word? iWork/Ooffice/StarOffice/AbiWord
Excel? also why iWork was created and released. Oh and theirs the zillions of FOSS spreedsheet programs aswell.
I installed it as said in the release notes, but I only get a black window in all my programs. Does anybody know what to do?
Had the same. It seems that they some have problem with their own theming engine. Try to switch to the default Windows XP oder Classic theme.
“It goes like this. The higher the usability of the interface, the dumber the audiance it is targeted. …”
Hehe, i ask me if it explains the one-button-mouse.
>That’s funny because Geforce 4s aren’t directx 9 capable.
They’re more DirectX capable than Geforce FX 5200s. In fact, they higher end Geforce 4s are still okay by today’s standards.
>Hehe, i ask me if it explains the one-button-mouse.
Actually, to get context menus with a one-button-mouse is more difficult, hence making the thing more difficult to use altogether. You have to hold down Command or whatever. Of course, you can buy a two button mouse all you want.
They’re more DirectX capable than Geforce FX 5200s. In fact, they higher end Geforce 4s are still okay by today’s standards.
I’m not exactly sure where you got this nonsense from. Geforce 4’s are faster than the FX 5200, but the FX 5200 has Shader Model 2.0, which is required to get the most out of Avalon.
Let me guess, you have a Geforce 4 and you can’t stand that you don’t have the heat haze effect in Doom³
Did anyone find the marketing speak on that page enough to make you want to throw up? Yikes…
“This enables developers and designers to create visually-stunning, differentiated user experiences that improve customer connection.”
Barf…