Zune Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

Be sure to register in our forums! Share your opinions, help others, and enter our contests.


Laptop Thoughts

Loading feed...

Windows Phone Thoughts

Loading feed...

Digital Home Thoughts

Loading feed...





All posts tagged "developer"


Monday, April 12, 2010

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Released, Silverlight 4 Later This Week

Posted by Darius Wey in "Windows Phone Developer" @ 09:20 AM

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/

"Kicking off a global launch consisting of more than 150 developer-focused events, Microsoft Corp. announced the general availability of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. The company also announced that Silverlight 4 will release to Web (RTW) later in the week. Together, these technologies simplify the entire development process, enabling developers to target new platforms and build high-quality applications. Developers will be able to download Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 in conjunction with the Microsoft Visual Studio Conference & Expo launch event in Las Vegas."

Windows Phone and Zune developers, take note. Microsoft has three surprises for us this week. The first two are Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4, both of which have gone gold. All four versions of the former are available for purchase; alternatively, if you're an MSDN subscriber, you'll find everything you need in the Subscriber Downloads section. And as for the much-anticipated Silverlight 4, it'll make an appearance later in the week.


Thursday, February 8, 2007

Zune Ruminations: A Developer's View

Posted by Damion Chaplin in "Zune Talk" @ 12:00 PM

http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/?p=1637

"Apple has an ad where they depict a PC upgrading to Vista as a serially-uncool business guy going in for surgery. Fine, so let's update this to make a proper analogy for the Apple upgrade process. Look, Apple has a shiny new operating system that ditches the old architecture (and we all know how often THAT has happened). How does Apple cool guy deal with the upgrade? He shoots himself, counting on reincarnation to bring himself back from the dead as a newborn baby, because surgery simply isn't an option. Imagine what an Apple-inspired game console might look like. It would look great and probably cost a lot, but open platform for developers and hobbyists to drive a software ecosystem forward? Not even close. I bought a Zune because I have experience of a Microsoft ecosystem that makes it easy for me as a software developer to customize. I don't envision a lot of Zune in-device customization, but if some smart person thinks of a reason for them to do that (making a device a music player first with extra functionality second might be a better approach than starting with a general purpose device a la Pocket PC and trying to make it useful as a music player), Microsoft will likely enable it, plus make use of the APIs very easy to do (wizards in Visual Studio, simulators, you name it). More important is the wider ecosystem of products that the Zune is likely to be a part of…which hopefully will include a car stereo with a large screen and an 8-track slot into which I can insert my Zune."

Why did John Carrol buy a Zune? Because he trusts the Microsoft ecosystem more than Apple's. What does that mean? Well, a very common thread in Mac vs. PC arguments is that MS products are configurable, customizable and frankly more power-user-friendly. As a software developer, John knows what it's like to try to program for Apple, so he concludes (correctly?) that more developers will want to develop for the Zune because the iPod ecosystem is so closed it's next to impossible to actually develop for it. Personally, I'm not exactly seeing a shortage in iPod accessories, and I don't think the Microsoft lure is enough to attract any significant portion of developers to the Zune. I am not, however, a developer, so what do I know? Any real developers want to pipe in with their take?


Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Reviews & Articles

Loading feed...

News

Loading feed...

Sponsored links