Windows Archive

"Avalon" applications and Microsoft Windows.Forms applications share many similarities. Both are managed solutions with many of the same underpinnings governing .NET Framework-based applications. There are, however, also differences between the two application models. Understanding these similarities and differences will help you assess how to adapt an existing Windows Forms application to take advantage of the capabilities in "Longhorn." On other news, Longhorn is set to kill middleware: the server version of Longhorn will include business process orchestration features to allow users to link together Web services, among other tasks, without the need for additional middleware.

Microsoft Corp. is hard at work to make "Longhorn," the next iteration of its Windows Server product, do more for less by integrating various server software systems. To do it, the company plans to extend .Net's capabilities even further with common execution environments and complete .Net Common Language Runtime support, said Valerie Olague, a Windows Server System director, in an interview.

If you have an AMD 64-bit ready PC, you now have the option to receive trial software for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems via CD or download for free.

A move by Microsoft to extend support for an older version of Windows underscores a new reality for the software giant: Convincing customers to upgrade is becoming much more difficult.

Over the past year, Microsoft has managed to create a perfect smokescreen around its new WinFS file system. It has spent this time touting a new, database-supported filing system to replace NTFS and FAT. Compatibility doubts were not long in bubbling to the surface. During the PDC (Professional Developers Conference) held in Los Angeles at the end of October, we spoke with Microsoft brass to gain an exclusive insight into the planned technological advance. Read the article at Tom's Hardware.

Microsoft Corp. will put a more human face on its upcoming global multimillion dollar advertising program for its Windows Server System. The company, which is set to announce the new ad campaign at its Silicon Valley campus on Thursday afternoon, will spend tens of millions of dollars on this worldwide campaign, which will feature specific IT staffers from enterprise and mid-level firms that use the Windows Server System solutions.

For almost 20 years, Windows has been an ever-evolving graphical environment which has focused on providing users, as well as developers, easy access to the latest technologies, hardware, and services. "Longhorn", the codename for the next version of Windows, represents a significant jump in the definition of what a Windows Application is, and is capable of achieving. In this episode of the .NET Show, MSDN TV provides a general overview of the larger technology "pillars" of Longhorn, introducing their concepts, as well as showing some of the coding techniques for gaining access to them. Use Windows Media Player on Mac/Windows or Win32_Codecs on Unix/Linux to view the videos.

Microsoft plans to start testing a new version of its Windows XP Media Center edition, a customized operating system designed for entertainment-oriented PCs.

The aim of Desktop Sidebar is provide you with instant access to some of your most important daily information, however some may run it just to fake the Longhorn's sidebar. Whichever your intent is, this seems to be like a nifty utility with enhancements for Windows users.

In the original "Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better" Langa covered many fundamental tweaks and adjustments that can help you to move XP out of its bland and sometimes limiting default settings and into a configuration that better fits your own personal needs, preferences, and work style. Fred Langa now examines free add-ons and utilities that further refine and improve your operating system.

Hillel Cooperman and Tjeerd ("cheered") Hoek are two of the key figures in the Windows User Experience team at Microsoft, and they've worked on some the company's more advanced user interface projects over the past several years. This interview is the first in a series highlighting the personalities behind the technology.

A Melbourne-based software outfit has come up with a tool for getting rid of the bloat on Windows systems and literally cutting one's system down to size. LitePC has developed software which it markets as XPLite and 2000lite, which users can use to remove practically any component of Windows.

Intel and Microsoft on Tuesday released software designed to improve the performance of Windows applications designed for 32-bit processors when they are running on Intel's 64-bit Itanium 2 processors. Download it here.

According to Tablet PC Talk Microsoft has announced at CES that they will release a beta copy of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2004 (Lonestar) upgrade in March 2004.