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Windows 7: Introducing WinFX, minus .NET?
(This is the first in an ongoing series about PDC 2008)
While perusing the PDC 2008 website’s preliminary agenda, I came across two sessions that really caught my attention:
Windows 7: Graphics Advances
Windows 7 enables you to advance the graphics capabilities of your applications while carrying forward existing investments in your Win32 codebase, including GDI and GDI+. New enhancements to DirectX let Win32 applications harness the latest innovations in GPUs and LCD displays, including support for scalable, high-performance, 2D and 3D graphics, text, and images. Also learn how to leverage the GPU’s parallelism for general-purpose computation such as image processing.
and
Windows 7: Web Services in Native Code
Windows 7 introduces a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code. This session will discuss the programming model, interoperability aspects with other implementations of WS-* protocols and demonstrate various services and applications built using this API.
After reading these, I could come to only one conclusion: Microsoft is building an unmanaged version of WinFX (at least the WPF and WCF components of it), currently known as .NET Framework 3.0.
This isn’t the first we’ve heard of this. Long first revealed a job description back in March that related to a new, native UI framework for Windows 7. The PDC session overview doesn’t add much (outside of the WCF component) to what was revealed there, but it does seem to indicate that this framework hasn’t been cut from Windows 7.
A native WinFX excites me for many reasons. One reason is that it opens up the robustness of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) to native developers, most likely with a significant performance gain versus the current managed WPF developers use now.
Also, according to the job description, this framework will use a markup language to define user interfaces (Most likely XAML or something extremely similar), which means designers will be able to use their knowledge (and code) across Win32, .NET and Silverlight now. This could speed adoption of all three technologies, which is nice.
Perhaps the most exciting things to the average user are the possibilities this offers up to Microsoft for Windows 7 itself. Microsoft jettisoned most of its vision for a graphically rich shell when it reset Longhorn development and realized that building Explorer in .NET and on top of a framework that was still in development was a bad idea. Now that this framework (milcore) is done, Microsoft should be able to harness its power rather easily through this new unmanaged WinFX framework without having to completely rewrite Explorer.
In other words, much of the UI goodness from the early Longhorn prototypes could wind up in 7.
Here’s hoping, anyway.
Tags: Development, OMG, PDC 2008, What's Next, Windows 7, WinFX
June 30th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Let’s hope they don’t end up scrapping the idea.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
This sounds like some very exciting news. Some cool eye candy will be a nice addition to 7, but only if the core components are robust first.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Here comes the sun! This is going to make the technology ouperform in many areas. I am so excited I can barely contain the laughter
June 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
One of the other possibilities I forgot while writing this post is that a framework like this provides, and granted I wouldn’t bet money on this, is a truly resolution independent UI, assuming it picks up WPF’s drawing engine.
Yes, what I’m saying is that Aero Diamond/Vector Glass/vectorzn’shit is possible with this new framework. Unlikely, but possible
June 30th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
This is not a new framework! This is all the capabilities of .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1, that is available on Vista right now as a beta preview. It will no doubt get released at the end of summer (or whenever Windows 7 ships) on both Vista and the next version.. You guys just aren’t keeping up, and honestly this is causing some misinformation from others that are syndicating this.. It’s a new “native” API because it will no doubt get released first as part of the next release of Windows, and to Vista at the same time.
Second thing, we all, we are using .NET version 3.5 now, not 3.0. If you use Visual Studio 2008 you are using or at least have the option of version 3.5.. it’s been available as an update for sometime. In March 08 at Mix 08 They announced .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1. It does all of these things, and no guys it’s not UNMANAGED.. All of this right now is in beta and is an Add-on for Windows Vista (sorry folks no XP here as far as I know). I am sure when it’s done it will be built into Windows 7, which is why this description makes sense for it..
Beta 1 of these capabilities:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8C36ACA4-E947-4760-9B05-93CAC04C6F87&displaylang=en
It does all of this in Vista at this time, including the GPU additions. Do you have so much against Vista that you have to make speculation like this? You should check out the beta right now it’s really pretty cool. The parallel extensions to visual studio have been available in CTPs since January.. It’s amazing you are asking for non-managed code. Most people who do .NET work feel that the world has improved much since the days of MFC..
The neat thing about this service pack and the new capabilities is the fact that directX functionality such as using Shaders are now available from the GUI and in many cases you don’t have to recompile or re-work an app for basic functionality and speed-ups. You don’t have to wait, you can try most of it right now… Is this just an anti-Vista thing that you guys can’t imagine that all that functionality (in beta) is right there right now?
If you are curious about just what is there in beta 1 This is the short list..
ASP.NET Dynamic Data, which provides a rich scaffolding framework that allows rapid data driven development without writing code, and a new addition to ASP.NET AJAX that provides support for managing browser history (back button support). For more information, see What’s New in ASP.NET and Web Development.
Core improvements to the common language runtime that include better layout of .NET Framework native images, opting out of strong-name verification for fully trusted assemblies, improved application startup performance, better generated code that improves end-to-end application execution time, and opting managed code to run in ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) mode if supported by the operating system. Additionally, managed applications that are opened from network shares have the same behavior as native applications by running with full trust.
Performance improvements to Windows Presentation Foundation, including a faster startup time and improved performance for Bitmap effects. Additional functionality for WPF includes better support for line of business applications, native splash screen support, DirectX pixel shader support, and the new WebBrowser control.
ClickOnce application publishers can decide to opt out of signing and hashing as appropriate for their scenarios, developers can programmatically install ClickOnce applications that display a customized branding, and ClickOnce error dialog boxes support links to application-specific support sites on the Web.
The Entity Framework is an evolution of the existing suite of ADO.NET data access technologies. The Entity Framework allows developers to program against relational databases in terms of application-specific domain models instead of the underlying database models. For more information see Getting Started with the Entity Framework. The Entity Framework introduces some additional features, including support for new SQL Server 2008 types, default graph serialization of Entities, and the first broad public release of the Entity Data Source. With this release, the Entity Framework supports the new date and file stream capabilities in SQL Server 2008. The graph serialization work helps developers who want to build Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services that model full graphs as data contracts. The Entity Data Source provides a traditional data source experience for ASP.NET application builders who want to work with the Entity Framework.
LINQ to SQL includes new support for the new date and file stream capabilities in SQL Server 2008.
The ADO.NET Data Services Framework consists of a combination of patterns and libraries, which enable data to be exposed as a flexible REST (Representational State Transfer)-based data service that can be consumed by Web clients within a corporate network or across the Internet. The ADO.NET Data Services Framework makes data service creation over any data source. A conceptual view model of the underlying storage schema can easily be exposed through rich integration with the ADO.NET Entity Framework. Services created using the ADO.NET Data Services Framework, as well as compatible Windows Live (dev.live.com) services, can be easily accessed from any platform. For client applications running on Microsoft platforms, a set of client libraries are provided to make interaction with data services simple. For example, .NET Framework-based clients can use LINQ to query data services and a simple .NET Framework object layer to update data in the service.
Windows Communication Foundation now makes the DataContract Serializer easier to use by providing improved interoperability support, enhancing the debugging experience in partial trust scenarios, and extending syndication protocol support for wider usage in Web 2.0 applications.
The .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (SqlClient) adds new support for file stream and sparse column capabilities in SQL Server 2008.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Just so I am clear on this, DirectX enhancements to Win32, the aero desktop is a Win32 application so any enhancements would have to be in aero itself. More enhancements to this and exposing it’s availability in .NET (3.5 SP1) makes a lot of since, the shader/GPU interface would have to be a directx enhancement. Most people will no doubt program it in .NET though that’s what this service pack is about.. I really doubt they’d ship the next Windows without it, have they ever not kept compatibility between generations? WPF apps are really getting popular now too.. I just don’t think Microsoft would ever drop dot net.. Especially with the performance and coolness this beta is showing all of us in Vista..
July 1st, 2008 at 1:32 am
Hi, Don!
First-off,
–Thanks! I think your blog is great, too. Lots of original content.
–.net 3.5 Service Pack 1 adds extensions to Direct X which allow unmanaged Win32 applications to use such awesome things as scalable, high-performance 2D and 3D graphics, text, and images? (That’s from the PDC 2008 session list, by the way. They explicitly said “Win32 applications”)
Oh, right,
–I guess not. (I was there for that, by the way. It was a rather loud and boring announcement.)
The way I and the developers here see it is this:
Microsoft is extending Direct X in order to allow for coders who still prefer writing unmanaged applications to take advantage of functionality similar to what can be found in the Windows Presentation and Communication foundations. Since Microsoft obviously wouldn’t make the mistake of creating an API for unmanaged applications out of managed code on an inherently unmanaged operating system, thus slowing down applications even more than WPF already does, the only logical thing this could mean is that WPF/WCF functionality is being added to Windows in unmanaged form, thus allowing for developers to take advantage of it in unmanaged applications.
I spoke about this with Adam Maras after having read your posts, and both of us reached the conclusion that you either gently misread Tony’s front page blog post, or you’ve got insider information which would implicate Microsoft in the heinous crime of creating an API for unmanaged code which, itself, is managed.
Also, I should add a little plug in here for Adam, who won the Future Business Leaders of America top prize for the Computer Operating Systems category and 7th in the nation overall at the National Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Congrats, Adam!
July 1st, 2008 at 4:31 am
[...] Full Article [...]
July 1st, 2008 at 7:42 am
@DotDotNET:
I don’t believe this is referring to WPF 3.5 SP1 for two reasons:
1. As Bryant mentions, the description specifically mentions Win32 apps.
and
2.
There’s a seperate session for WPF 3.5 SP1 itself.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I am not even going to argue with Don about his post, but I will say this much. Don is wrong on so many levels!
July 5th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
well i dont know too much anymore but heres to hoping that first one means we will get per application DPI resizing capability back in the OS that was displayed in the old vista builds (regardless of the ‘d’ word and vector graphics).
July 9th, 2008 at 10:18 am
[...] is planning to detail at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in late October — as “WinFX minus .Net.” I’ve heard this unmanaged services platform described by yet another codename: [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
[...] is planning to detail at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in late October — as “WinFX minus .Net.” I’ve heard this unmanaged services platform described by yet another codename: [...]
July 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
[...] октября этого года. Платформа будет представлена как “WinFX минус .Net”. Эту платформу описывают еще одним кодовым названием: [...]
July 14th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I’ve been using .NET 3.5 SP1, and I’ve found the new Effects class, but I’ve also noticed that in overriding the OnRender method, you’re still restricted by PushEffect to use BitmapEffects, and not effects with hardware acceleration. Also, I’m not sure why Microsoft chose not to include a hardware accelerated version of OuterGlow, its probably more useful than DropShadow, especially since it can replicate the shadowing used for Aero windows when DropShadow can’t.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:57 am
[...] Vista halefi Windows 7, ciddi anlamda iyileştirilmiş grafik efektleri ile karşımıza çıkabilir. Bu iddianın gerekçesi ise Microsoft’un Professional Developer Conference (PDC2008) etkinliğindeki içeriğin duyurulması oluyor. Haberin kaynağı AeroXperience-Blog. [...]
July 21st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
.NET versions are becoming the VB runtime DLL’s of the new milleneum (except the download is 100x as big!)
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
For all of the information being leaked about Windows 7 is that it absolutely must be an unequivocal success. If Win7 or whatever name it has when it arrives is another flop as is Vista, there will be an exodus of users not seen since Moses led his flock from Egypt. In my opinion, most of them will be heading for Apple. Some may straggle over to Linux but I believe Apple will prove the stronger lure, despite it’s higher price.
As an IBM retiree, the thought of owning an Apple sticks in my throat a bit but I believe I would check it out.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
[...] to AeroXp, Microsoft is building an unmanaged version of WinFX (at least the WPF and WCF components of it), [...]