Longhorn "Reinvents" DHTML?

[dilettante]

Is it just me?

I haven't looked really closely at Longhorn myself yet. There is just to much else on my plate right now.

But a week or so ago I sat through a canned webcast with Don Box and some other guy showing how to hack out Longhorn desktop applications and such in .Net languages front-ended with XAML. I've read a little more on it, and there's a starter page here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/longhorn/.../04/01/DevelopingAppsforLonghorn/default.aspx

This sure does look one whole lot like DHTML applications (or more specifically something close to conventional Windows HTAs). Substitute XAML for HTML, and substitute .Net classes for script and ActiveX... and here we are!

Is this really deja vu or does it just feel like it?

 

[CubeE101]

SO WHAT IS XAML...

eXtensible Application Markup Language?

and is this basically just XML for Applications?

And yes that is what it looks like to me also...

Have Fun, Be Young... Code BASIC
-Josh

http://cubee.topcities.com

 

[dilettante]

I think they were shooting for a way to unify the development experience more for .Net developers. The goal looks something like making the coding look the same whether you are creating a Windows Forms application or a Web Forms application.

They were probably also looking desperately for some way to pull the UI stuff out of the code. Try hand-coding (NotePad, or emacs, etc. - no Visual Studio) even a small .Net program with more than a handful of controls and menus. What a mess. Making the UI stuff easier for a hand-coder to manage should also make things easier for an IDE to manage.

In effect they are coming back to the way VB worked prior to .Net! But so far the (hand coder's) look and feel screams DHTML to me.

If we choose to look at it in this light I suppose we're getting DHTML but with compiled, managed code. This alone should be somewhat faster and potentially much more secure.

 

[CubeE101]

So will .Net apps be the only savailable development option for LongHorn?

Or will VB6 / VC++6 still work???

I wave not used .Net yet, but from what I hear, I'm not sure I want to start anytime soon, given I don't have too...

Is this a good time to switch to .Net?

Have Fun, Be Young... Code BASIC
-Josh

http://cubee.topcities.com

 

[CubeE101]

ooops...
...only available development...

Have Fun, Be Young... Code BASIC
-Josh

http://cubee.topcities.com

 

[Breadcrust]

maybe its time to switch from basic

[tt]
Breadcrust (aka J@red)

Web -

http://www.bcwebnet.tk

E-mail - net-head@softhome.net
Linux Reg. Number - 307180 (

http://counter.li.org)

[/tt]

 

[dilettante]

I think you only need .Net for the new stuff in Longhorn. I haven't seen anything about older code being unsupported, more likely they'll expend a lot of effort to make sure old stuff can run.

 

[Tarwn]

I don't know, they're switching from the Win32 system to the WinFS system, and talking about moving completely from the Win32 API to .Net, it may just be that API-based apps won't run on Longhorn.

_{01000111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01000011 01101111 01100110 01100110 01100101 01100101 00111111}
The never-completed website:

http://www.tiernok.com/

 

[CajunCenturion]

it may just be that API-based apps won't run on Longhorn.

Can you imagine how expensive that will be to the consumer market, the cost of upgrading all of their existing applications and programs that use the API, not to mention to hundreds of basic controls, or their methods, which are nothing more then wrappers around API calls.

When faced with that cost, the conversion to an *nix based system becomes quite competitive, and that could be quite devastating for Microsoft. I agree with dilettante - more likely they'll expend a lot of effort to make sure old stuff can run.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[CubeE101]

I don't know, they're switching from the Win32 system to the WinFS system, and talking about moving completely from the Win32 API to .Net, it may just be that API-based apps won't run on Longhorn

This is what I was refering to...

You know, despite their attempt to maintain minimal backwards compatibility, Everytime Microsoft releases a new OS series, they usually try to squeeze out support for most areas of a previous version...

Such as dos to windows 95/98, There were certain areas of dos programs that no longer worked... Solution Buy a new compiler...

Windows ME just sucked...

Windows 98 to XP nearly all protected mode program no longer work (programs compiled with DJGPP C/C++ compiler), and the main C compiler that WILL work is Visual C++ (hmmm...) and .Net is introduced and promoted, but most people are still used to VB/VC++ 6 so it does not sell as well as they hope...

Now if they change the whole file system and inner workings of the OS, with a focus on using XML and .Net to develop data based applications, is this a push for people to purchase .Net development and obsolete the previous products (That everyone just so happens to already own) in an attempt to gain a quick profit?

Given, if this does happen, there will most likely be an emulator available to run the existing software... but like every emulator, it will never be as good as the real thing. Which will swamp developers with support calls and force them to purchase new development software (again .net)...

Does this sound like something MicroSoft would do??? ;-)

Have Fun, Be Young... Code BASIC
-Josh

http://cubee.topcities.com

 

[CajunCenturion]

The sad thing Cube101, is yes, it does sound like something MS would do, and sometimes and I think they're arrogant enough to believe they'll get away it.

Hopefully, enough people will say enough is enough, and perhaps this time, faced with the cost of conversion that they have no choice in, they'll choose to convert away from Microsoft.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[tipmiser]

1.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000001:1 the apps don't work on WinFS or have
major problems.

And yes, MS would do that.

 

[strongm]

Well, they demo'd Visicalc running under Longhorn at the PDC - and that's twenty years old...