ASP.NET 4.5 and HTML5

ASP.NET 4.5 includes the following new features and enhancements:

Editor
1-      HTML Editor
2-      Page Inspector
3-      CSS Editor
4-      JavaScript Editor

Core Services
1-      Asynchronously reading and writing HTTP requests and responses
2-      Support for reading unvalidated request data when request validation is enabled
3-      Support for WebSockets protocol
4-      Bundling and minification of client scripts
5-      Support for asynchronous HTTP modules and HTTP handlers
6-      Integrated Anti-XSS encoding routines

Web Forms
1-      Support for HTML5 form types
2-      HTML encoded data-binding expressions
3-      Unobtrusive JavaScript for client-side validation
4-      Model binders
5-      Strongly typed binding expressions in data controls
6-      Fallback support for content distribution networks (CDNs) in the ScriptManager control
7-      Improved paging in the GridView control

ASP.NET MVC 4.0
1-      ASP.NET MVC 4 Release Notes
2-      Using the HTML5 and jQuery UI Datepicker Popup Calendar with ASP.NET MVC
3-      ASP.NET MVC 4 Mobile Features

ASP.NET Web Pages 2.0
1-      New and enhanced site templates
2-      Validation
3-      Script management for complex scripts
4-      Side-by-side support
5-      Membership and authentication
6-      Mobile display modes

Justin Angel on Silverlight 5

Possible features of Silverlight 5:

1- More Platform Reach

When talking about “reach” there are a few interesting dimensions:

a) Silverlight Browser Support: Silverlight currently only officially supports Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome and Safari. Support could be extended to Opera or other less prominent browsers.

b) Operating System: Silverlight is currently limited in the Mobile space (No Symbian support yet) and in the Gaming Console space.

c) CPU Architecture: Silverlight doesn’t support x64 CPUs, Mac G4 PowerBook CPUs, and a few other CPU architectures.

2- Bundle Silverlight with Windows

At Mix10 Microsoft VP Scott Guthrie announced Silverlight Adoption rate is at 60% of all internet connected machines.
In the future, we could hope to see Microsoft bundle Silverlight with Windows or add it as a super-duper-should-have update to Windows Machines.

3- Improved WriteableBitmap API

The in-memory drawing API in Silverlight is somewhat limited for advanced tasks, like:

1) No API for Drawing Shapes.
2) No API for Resizing & Rescaling.
3) No API for Clear, Copy & Crop methods.
4) No API for Conversion to various formats.
5) Performance issues that plague any “1 pixel, 1 read/write” approach.

4- 3D support

5- Store File Permissions Granted by the User

Using the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog end-users can respectively grant read and write permissions for any file to a Silverlight Application.
Developers would like to see these permissions persist after the application has been restarted. We can see in Silverlight 4 RTM that Full Screen, Webcam and Clipboard access already get persisted after application restart.
So it is not unreasonable to hope this feature will be included in Silverlight.

6- Add PLINQ and TPL support

With PLINQ & TPL creating, debugging and maintaining multi core applications has been massively simplified on the .Net framework. With Silverlight supporting C# 4 and a majority on new .Net 4.0 features, it is possible we’ll see PLINQ and TPL in future Silverlight versions. That would allow Silverlight to have the best in-browser threading  solution for any major programming platform.

7- Reporting Controls and SQL Reporting Services Integration

Microsoft has a great suite of Reporting and Analysis tools that are part of the SQL Server 2008 product group. As part of ASP.Net and winforms there are ReportViewer controls that allow to view, zoom, page and export from predefined RDLS reports. If this feature is implemented it would probably include a new Silverlight & WPF Report Viewer control as well as deep SQL Server Reporting Services integration.

Justin Angel on Windows 8, C# and Build

Windows 8 gives you the platform and tools to create rich app experiences where your customers focus on tasks that are important to them. Apps are at the center of the Windows 8 experience. They are alive with activity and vibrant content. Your customers immerse themselves in your full-screen, Metro style app allowing them to focus on their content rather than on the operating system.

With Windows 8 you can leverage your existing skills and code assets to create great experiences for your customers.

Web developers can use their HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript skills to build native applications for Windows.

.NET Developers can use XAML, C#, and Visual Basic to build beautiful Metro style apps.

Game developers can use the power of DirectX 11.1 to build amazing, immersive gaming experiences.

Driver developers can use the new, integrated Microsoft® Visual Studio® development environment to increase productivity.

Justin Angel on Windows 8 Platform and Tools

C/C++ Developers and Metro Style Apps

Windows 8 and its new WinRT native libraries can be targeted by C/C++ developers just as the age-old Win32 libraries could be. This has not really changed and there are certainly many applications such as complex games, device drivers, etc. that require the kind of low level control that C/C++ offer. On the other hand, for 99% of Metro Style Apps such as social media apps, productivity tools, and business apps, C++ is not the answer in Win8 any more than it has been for the last 10 years.

XAML/C# Developers and Metro Style Apps

XAML/C# in Win 8 is the best option for the vast majority of Microsoft developers. The Silverlight/WPF community can bring their skills forward, though they will need to learn new controls and new APIs for working with WinRT as opposed to WPF/SL. General .NET developers who have not yet done anything with XAML will have a somewhat larger learning curve, but XAML itself is a very mature UI platform at this point, so it should be pretty easy for these developers to find the resources they need to quickly get up to speed with this.

Web Developers and Metro Style Apps

Web developers will likely find the HTML5+CSS+JS option attractive. There are also many Microsoft web developers, who build applications today using ASP.NET and C# (or perhaps VB) on the server, but who must also know CSS and JavaScript and HTML for the client work. Many of these developers including ASP.NET developers will likely opt to go the HTML5+CSS+JS route rather than the XAML route.

Richard Campbell on Windows 8, and C#

The Best of Build with Richard Campbell

On October 4, 2011, Richard Campbell presented in BCIT the highlights of this year’s Windows BUILD conference, as well as added a few of his own insights about the direction of Windows and Microsoft.

The first and most apparent change in Windows 8 is the user interface. Richard showed Windows 8 on the new Samsung tablet, and demonstrated its usability. In Windows 8, everything is considered to be an application, including the traditional desktop. The main screen is similar to a mobile device; it displays icons of the installed applications. The desktop is one of these applications, and by clicking on the Start Menu the user is taken back to the main screen. This main screen is Windows Metro, a new design language that features a simpler and cleaner user interface. Microsoft is pushing Metro as the new way of designing their products, which will rely on WinRT, or Windows Runtime. WinRT is the new programming model that simplifies the interfacing between languages and platforms, consisting of services.

Everything that runs in Windows today will be supported in Windows 8. Silverlight is not going to be phased out, but Richard speculates that it will not go past Silverlight 6. XAML, HTML 5, and CSS 3 will be significant for providing the user interface, and Javascript, C++, C#, and .NET 4.5 will be support the model control. The stack will be the same, but Windows 8 is focusing on separating the CLR (Common Language Runtime) and the different programming languages.

Windows is also introducing an “App Store”, for both desktop applications and mobile applications. Unlike the Android store, these App Store will be curated, and Microsoft will be just as responsible as the developers for any bad or malicious apps. The Internet Explorer 10 app is completely chromeless and does not support plug-ins. However, running Internet Explorer 10 on the desktop will allow plug-ins, and will feel like IE does now with the traditional chrome.

Richard also talked about the popularity of Windows 8. He explained that because many companies didn’t switch to Vista, they waited until Windows 7 to be released. Now that these companies are finally set up with Windows 7, they won’t want to switch again once Windows 8 comes out, and instead wait for Windows 9. Therefore, Windows 8 is directed at the consumer, and Windows 9 will be directed at enterprises.

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