Port 25: The Open Source Community at Microsoft : Downloads, App

Eclipse4SL Release Candidate Hits the Streets

Peter Galli — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:34:00 GMT

The feature complete Release Candidate for Eclipse4SL, an open source, feature-rich RIA application development environment for Microsoft Silverlight in Eclipse, has been released, and can be downloaded here.

This new and important milestone includes a number of new compelling features, including full implementation of the XAML Editor with auto preview; resource and project management; wizards for adding Silverlight project items, including support for JavaScript; and extensibility.

Guidance will also be given in the coming weeks on building Silverlight applications accessing Java Web Services using REST, SOAP and other standards

As planning is ongoing, the next few weeks will be focused on the final sprint to Spring 2009, which includes support for the Mac and an improved C# experience.

Featured Project: Family.Show on Codeplex

jcannon — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:09:00 GMT

Over the course of the past year, we've highlighted various community and open source projects on Codeplex. This morning, I wanted to do the same with a very cool open source project that I came across over the weekend called Family.Show. Family.Show is a genealogy project that visualizes family mapping and relationships. The project was released in July 2007 and it's currently at version 2. While the project is backed by Vertigo Software, it is Open Source and licensed under the Microsoft Public License.

Here's a small screen grab from the project home page:

Over the weekend, I used some free time & a family BBQ to start building my own family tree. Frankly, while I'm impressed with the application and it's ease-of-use, I was more amazed at the interest and enjoyment everyone in my family experienced using it. Everybody from my 83 year old grandmother to my 19 year old sister were excited to explore and add to the family tree. It gives new meaning to the collaborative potential of open source :>

See above, the Cannon family tree (yikes) - but infinitely fascinating to self-described family historians. It's worth noting that Family.Show also supports the import/export of GEDCOM standard files, so your work can interchange with other genealogy software packages as well.

I encourage anyone interested to download & tinker with it. Additionally, here are some additional resources:

Visit the Codeplex project home page
Family.Show at MIX07
Watch a Channel9 Video with the core development team

-Jamie

Open Source Applications on Windows Vista: Readiness Kit

MichaelF — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:19:00 GMT

http://www.devreadiness.org

· Guidance

· Technical Whitepapers

· Tools

· Demos

http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/reference/appcompat/default.aspx

· Thirty minute compatibility check

· Extended feature details

· Integration guidance

http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/reference

· Application compatibility

· Communications

· Interoperability and Migration

· Mobile PC

· Presentation

· Security

· System Services

Recently Mozilla’s Mike Beltzner suggested we provide: "Something like a checklist of the most common OS integration points that have changed from Windows XP would be extremely useful…"

Turns out there are some useful resources already available, see above, for those interested in developing Open Source applications for Windows Vista or ensuring that their current applications are compatible.

I took a few minutes to speak with Michael Shaw, Technical Evangelist, to get some additional details on the resources available at the sites listed above. The following is a short synopsis of our conversation.

What is http://www.devreadiness.org?

MShaw: The site is an aggregation of tools, whitepapers, presentations and videos intended to help developers understand how to make their existing Windows XP applications compatible with Windows Vista.

Are there other sites aside from devreadiness that developers can turn to?

MShaw: Yes, but many of the resources available on those sites are either linked from devreadiness or the tools/resources are also located on our site. Consider this a one-stop shop for Vista application compatibility resources.

Is there anything in particular that those interested should take a look at?

MShaw: Yes. I would first take a look at the Application Compatibility Cookbook that is located here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/reference/appcompat/default.aspx. This is the first document developers should look at concerning application compatibility. We have identified and addressed the major areas affecting applications when changing from Windows XP to Windows Vista. I’d like to point out the section on Computer Defaults as this is one big area that developers should take a close look to ensure compatibility for users.

Thanks to Michael Shaw for taking the time to talk with us and to Scott Laster who manages these sites. If you have specific questions about devreadiness or the Application Compatibility Cookbook, let us know.

-Michael