Comrades,
It is an exciting day for me as today we release the first community technology preview of "WPF/E".
“WPF/E” (codename) is Microsoft's solution for delivering rich, cross-platform, interactive experiences including animation, graphics, audio, and video for the Web and beyond. Utilizing a subset of XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language)-based Windows Presentation Foundation technology, “WPF/E” will enable the creation of content and applications that run within multiple browsers and operating systems (Windows and Macintosh) using Web standards for programmability. Consistent with Web architecture, the XAML markup is programmable using JavaScript and works well with ASP.NET AJAX. Broadly available for customers in the first half of 2007, “WPF/E” experiences will require a lightweight browser plug-in made freely available by Microsoft.
There is already a lot of information available for you to munch on starting 09:00AM PST:
A new MSDN dev center at http://msdn.microsoft.com/wpfe
MSDN library nodes on "WPF/E" that includes:
“WPF/E” SDK – if you want to develop “WPF/E” content, you need to use that. Having Visual Studio will help the process be smoother.
“WPF/E” white papers.
Downloads for you to play with:
“WPF/E” CTP for Windows – this is what you need to install on IE (6 or 7) and Firefox (1.5 or 2.0) on Windows
“WPF/E” CTP for Macintosh – this is what you need to install on Safari and firefox (1.5) on the Mac.
“WPF/E” Samples – after you install “WPF/E” CTP on a pc or on a Mac you can use these samples to get a feeling to how “WPF/E” works.
Channel 9 zone for WPFE
And of course the complementary tools and designers sites at www.microsoft.com/expresion site and the www.microsoft.com/design.
We also have 3 MSDN forums to discuss "WPF/E". You are invited to ask questions: General, Designer, Developer.
The last thing I want to share with you is an internal Microsoft "WPF/E" site, that looks like the image the the bottom.
You can not see the graphic effects from this image, so I want to let you know that the buttons you see are actually floating on moving water and the images at the bottom are floating. Nevertheless, the text you see is standard HTML text. This page shows how you can mix HTML and XAML on the same page and get the benefits of both. You can do it too.
So, it is time for you to start trying “WPF/E”. Let me know how it goes and stay tuned to some more information.
Barak
