Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference (PDC) 2005 has come to a close. Neowin has tried to cover it as thoroughly as possible. So what were the highlights?
First, there's Windows Vista itself. Windows Vista is the first major overhaul of the NT code-base since..well ever. Windows NT was launched in 1994. In 1996, Windows NT 4.0 was released which contained some minor tweaks to it. In 2000, Windows 2000 was a significant update to NT 4.0 but still just an update. In 2001, Windows XP was released which was largely a cosmetic update to Windows 2000.
But Windows Vista is a truly new version. Microsoft announced a new API called WinFX to succeed the two decade old Win16/Win32 based APIs which included GDI for graphics and a hodgepodge of networking APIs.
WinFX is made up of 3 main subset APIs: Avalon (Windows Presentation Foundation) which rides on top of Direct3D to provide 3D accelerated graphics. Indigo to provide a secure and easy to use set of communication APIs (Windows Communication Foundation). And .NET, a set of managed APIs to make it easier to write software in general.
Read more for the rest of the wrap up, more sources linked below.
View: Windows Vista Homepage
View: Microsoft Expression Suite
View: Channel 9
View: Microsoft Gadgets, Did Yahoo know about Microsoft Gadgets?
View: Windows Vista Game Screenshots, Select Windows Vista OS shots
View: My Tech Blog
First, there's Windows Vista itself. Windows Vista is the first major overhaul of the NT code-base since..well ever. Windows NT was launched in 1994. In 1996, Windows NT 4.0 was released which contained some minor tweaks to it. In 2000, Windows 2000 was a significant update to NT 4.0 but still just an update. In 2001, Windows XP was released which was largely a cosmetic update to Windows 2000.
But Windows Vista is a truly new version. Microsoft announced a new API called WinFX to succeed the two decade old Win16/Win32 based APIs which included GDI for graphics and a hodgepodge of networking APIs.
WinFX is made up of 3 main subset APIs: Avalon (Windows Presentation Foundation) which rides on top of Direct3D to provide 3D accelerated graphics. Indigo to provide a secure and easy to use set of communication APIs (Windows Communication Foundation). And .NET, a set of managed APIs to make it easier to write software in general.
Read more for the rest of the wrap up, more sources linked below.
View: Windows Vista Homepage View: Microsoft Expression Suite View: Channel 9 View: Microsoft Gadgets, Did Yahoo know about Microsoft Gadgets? View: Windows Vista Game Screenshots, Select Windows Vista OS shots View: My Tech BlogMicrosoft also showed off Office 12 which is the most significant (and potentially controversal) update to Microsoft Office since Office 95. Amongst its myriad of changes, the toolbars and menu bar structure we've come to know are gone. Replaced by "ribbons". Ribbons are best described as context sensitive toolbars but are much larger.
In addition, to help encourage development using these new technologies Microsoft announced a suite of visual development tools called Expression. Expression is made up of 3 programs: Acrylic, a drawing program aimed at creating user interfaces for software. Sparkle, a program for visually designing applications using XAML. And Quartz, a sort of DreamWeaver professional web development application.
Visual Studio 2005 was highlighted a great deal and attendees received Visual Studio 2005 release candidate to begin development.
Microsoft also reintroduced the Sidebar and embraced Gadgets. It described the Windows Sidebar as being a container for gadgets. Gadgets will be able to be created using Microsoft development tools or with third-party programs that specialize in gadget creation.
Microsoft also heavily promoted its relatively new Channel 9 site which has become increasing popular. Channel 9 seems to be well on its way of creating a true community feel for developers using Microsoft technologies.
Microsoft's stated goal with Windows Vista is to deliver a truly new version of Windows Vista designed for the future. It is a pretty significant break with the past. High performance, robust security, and a rich development enviroment are the three watch words Microsoft focused on during the event.
Whether Microsoft can deliver on their goals remains to be seen.
Office 12 Screenshot
I don't think I would have down played Windows 2000 so much. It was a very major overhaul, both of the client and the server. 2000 Pro greatly improve upon NT 4.0 Workstation, most of the improvements are now things we take for granted, but it was still a major improvement.
The 2000 server update was just plane mind blowing! Active Directory and Group Policies alone added more to the platform then anything I have seen slated for Vista. True we have little details on the Longhorn server but it is likely to only improve on AD, not do a major overhaul like what was done for 2000.
I think people just take for granted all the things Windows 2000 added and can't remember a time when they didn't exist, or only existed in 95/98.
STV
People see it this way because you just don't see it in the screenshots, mainly because Microsoft isn't concerned about looks right now. It's like building a house: You first build it, then you finally paint it, etc...
I think that the stament of "the biggest change EVER in this OS" is a fact, and not an opinion. There are a lot of reasons to support it :-)
The release date of the final version is still more than a year away =]
So just wait and you'll see how minor the change will be
Last edited by 102022 on 19 Sep 2005 - 05:01
LOL, that's among the largest changes in 2K.
You don't see any big UI improvements in it from NT4, right?
NT 5.0 was a BIG step from NT 4 in many ways, the former being an OS still very usable in this day and age, with NT 4 being a hurdle in many ways.
New features in 2K are for example NTFS 5 with strong File System Encryption, disk quotas, simple/spanned/striped volumes. It also comes with that whole bunch of accessibility stuff, the entire Microsoft Management Console, and the Recovery Console, besides huge updates to the Win32 API. So many new things we easily take for granted today. If we didn't have 2K before XP and Vista, they would work very differently than from today.
Maybe Vista is an even *larger* change, but that's entirely besides the point. A larger thing doesn't make another one smaller, and definitely not a major OS revision an "update". That's just poor journalism to try to make a point.
Last edited by 21023 on 19 Sep 2005 - 06:45
Surely their goal isn't to "deliver a truly new version of Windows Vista", as there's been no version of Windows Vista preceeding it? I do believe that it should read "...truly new version of Windows".
- Dominic
Post Scriptum: Reading that "did yahoo know" article which is linked to, it seems a rather spiteful and "well we told you so, konfabulator" affair. Seems more to be a publicity stunt than any form of opinion backed by reason!
Last edited by 81503 on 19 Sep 2005 - 05:41
Most of the public stuff right now does look like trash but like you said, "I know, it's not even Beta 2..."
Operating Systems are essentially there to do exactly the same thing. Act a a base station for which a wide variety of applications can be launched. If something works in another OS surely its only natural that other OS makers are going to pick it up and use it. Its like with cars, everyone was making hard to cars, then suddenly someone decided to cut the roof of and bam everyone was doing it. You should always expect a cross over of features in the major OS makers.
If trolls could read this, I'd be happy. Get over it, Windows OWNS Linux and OSX in the market right now, no matter what you say, and it will be that way for at least 10 years, so calm down and enjoy the ride Microsoft is giving you.
Anyway, no one is forcing you guys to use Windows Vista over OS X, enjoy your OS X all the way while I enjoy my Vista and end of discussion!
Will it be online playable?
I wouldn't consider the whole Windows 95 UI added in NT 4.0 as a "minor" tweak. The replacement of the dreaded Win3.1 GUI of NT 3.1-3.5 was a welcome advance.
You also forgot that the DirectX API first appeared for the NT branch with NT4. Again, not a "minor" tweak at all.
And for the record, I'm very excited about Office 12 and the various "Office Servers".
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.