Looks like the designers at Microsoft agree with Senator Ted Stevens.
Have a look at the network icon for Windows Vista.
Looks like its a pretty small tube. I bet you can’t even stream 10 movies across that, before your eBay purchases start clogging up. Start gambling!
I recently got the chance to chat with Paul Donnelly, the Microsoft Windows Vista beta program manager, to ask about the development process for Windows Vista and branching. It looks like I was wrong about a lot of things, but through his explanations, I was able to get a better understanding of how everything worked. So here is the updated RC1 branching diagram.
Basically, the changes I’ve made to the diagram are:
So whats the difference between “features” and “content”? Paul explains, a feature is a set of code to do a specific function. Aero is a feature, the log-on screen is a feature. Content on the other hand, provide additional resources for a feature, which might contribute to the end-user experience. An example of this is the system sounds. Obviously without a doubt, new Vista system sounds are coming, but not as a feature. The feature for system sounds is the ability to play specified sound files on predefined events. The sound files themselves are content, which is audible to the user. Wallpapers and help files would also be classified as content. And since a new boot screen may not involve modifying code, that might be considered content too!
I also took the opportunity to ask Paul whether modifying Aero Glass would be possible at this time. Not only did he say it was possible, but he went as far as saying He says it is possible, and I quote, “A new theme is again, just content. Since the theming code would just apply it.” A new theme is possible at this point Changes to the existing Aero Glass is possible, a new Aero (tier) is not. But I’m confident nothing more than only a refined Aero Glass is coming, since there are only months left before Vista has to be shipped.
Important: Paul wants to make sure everyone is clear on this issue. NO new Aero is coming. NO vector Glass. NO new theme. These were ONLY stated as examples.
Paul also reconfirmed strongly since Beta 2, Vista was “feature-locked”. That is, no additional features may be added to Windows Vista at this time in development. However exceptions apply.
No new features can be added, but features can be changed. Changing the log-on screen feature after it’s already been in the build is very possible. I didn’t clarify how much you could change a feature before it is considered a ‘new feature’, but I presume you could quite a bit of remodeling.
Then I asked about the possibilities of adding a clock to the log-on screen. Paul states two possible alternatives, depending on how the feature was documented. If the clock feature was internally enumerated in it’s own feature specification, then adding that feature after Beta 2 would be impossible. However, if the specifications for the log-on screen includes a clock as part of its features, then adding the clock would be considered a “work item”, a yet-to-be implemented part of a feature. For example, if the clock was in the original pre-Beta 2 specifications for the log-on screen, then is definitely possible for it to show up in the future.
Important: Paul also wants to make sure everyone is clear on the clock idea. He cannot confirm whether or not a clock will/will not be added to the final release. It was ONLY stated as an example.
But without access to the internal specifications, we can never know for sure what is planned for the final Windows Vista release. There could even be significant chunks of features still missing from current builds.
In conclusion, it was a very short but informative conversation. So here’s what I learned in summary:
Dear aunt. I sat down slept like a baby whilst Oliver Scholz, a Microsoft employee working on the speech recognition experience in Windows Vista, spent days and nights to respond to the questions I sent out for him earlier about speech recognition and Windows Vista. I didn’t expect him to provide such an indepth and extensive behind-the-scenes look at what he does and the technology he’s working on, but he did, so you all better read it.
My commentary are surrounded with [square brackets] in italics.
Thanks to Nexus for providing this image.
The opinions expressed by Oliver Scholz herein are his own personal opinions and do not represent his employer’s views in any way. However, if you are his employer, you ought to give him a raise, since he’s obviously doing a better job than the Microsoft Partners marketing people.
I am a program manager on the Speech User Experience for Windows Vista. What does that mean? [I was just about to ask, seriously.] I work with a team of software developers and testers to design, implement and test the speech recognition user experience for Windows Vista.
We’ve worked on Windows Vista for a long time [You kidding?]. Over the course of the project cycle, I worked on different things. I was part of the team that designed the Speech User Experience you see in Windows Vista today. We designed this experience based on user feedback from real speech recognition users. I then worked with a team of developers and testers to manage the different features through the implementation and test cycle. This means that I represent customers and their needs throughout the project cycle, making sure that what we implement will meet our user’s and customer’s needs.
Scott Savage has done it again! He has posted the Office 2007 Beta 2 Technical Refresh (B2TR) splash screens for Word 2007 and Groove 2007. They look exactly like the ones I saw and snapped a picture of at TechEd 2006. Which is a good sign that this is legitimate.
Obviously these won’t be the splash screens released to the public when Office hits the stores, since they’re pretty bland and carries no brand equity whatsoever.
Some German dude is posting a timeline of the Office 2007 development schedules, and says B2TR should be released on either the 14th or 15th of September 2006. Even if it is not legitimate, he can’t be far off. We’re long overdue for a new build.
My other friend Aaron Parker (I have lots of friends, they don’t come cheap thou) has discovered that the new Outlook 2007 icon has been hiding in the Windows Vista betas for quite a long time.
Aaron found this in “MSSVP.DLL”, which is part of the Windows Search system files. It makes sense because the new Windows Search will not only find content in files, but also email, contacts, to-do lists, RSS feeds, calendar and notes, which of course is all part of the Office Outlook application.
It begs me to ask, how many more hidden gems can be found in the resource files of the Windows Vista betas? Start looking!
Ever since the dawn of men, humans have asked the question, what is the best internet browser? To tell you the truth, I don’t know and I don’t care. I’ll use whichever one can offer me the best experience and features that I want, not based on someone else’s opinion. One feature in particular has been on my shopping list for quite a long time, and that is the “page zoom” feature.
“Page zoom” is a feature on just about any modern browser. The idea is simple, magnify the content of a web page to enhance visibility in situations where you can’t sit 1-inch infront of the screen. Simple in theory, complex in practice. I took a few screenshots comparing how each of the three most-preferred Windows browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, Opera) handled “page zoom”.
These first set of tests were taken from the homepage of my blog.
The second set of tests were taken from the Australian newspaper’s website, The Age.
Firefox 2.0 (Applies to 1.5 as well)
Firefox has probably the worst “zoom” feature out of the three browsers. It is nothing more than just “large text”, which is quite a shame really. The problem is when Firefox doesn’t scale the CSS styling and images when zooming causes text to easily overgrow the size of the constrained layout. There is a “PageZoom” extension which adds this missing functionality, as well as a request at BugZilla to implement this function in the future.
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 7 has implemented a “not-so-polished” zooming feature. I say this because whilst it does actually support true scaling of font, CSS styling and images, it exhibits some bugs that can destroy the layout. For example, in the first set of tests @ 150%, the second navigational tab text is misaligned, and also the competition promotion text missing a spacing between the sentences. In the second set of tests @ 150%, the website’s faux background does not scale in proportions, leaving some of the content on a gray background. But on the plus side, IE7 supports zooming centre-aligned pages. That is, it will automatically refocus the alignment of the page to the centre of your screen no matter how far you zoom. Which is definitely a handy feature on most news websites. Whereas without refocus, you would zoom in 200% and see nothing but the background.
Interesting to note also, Internet Explorer 7 actually scales the Flash content as well. So you can have all your “Press here to make a fart noise” banners in extra-large too!
Opera 9
Opera has the most polished zooming feature out of all three browsers. It comes to me a surprise because Opera has been stereotyped as the browser with the unconventional CSS rendering engine. It scales fonts, CSS and images perfectly, leaving everything proportionally aligned. It also supports zooming centre-aligned pages, however, has a different approach to how IE7 handles it. Instead of maintaining the focus in the centre of the page, it refocuses to the left most margin of the layout. This is quite a smart feature, which makes sense because most content is left-aligned. The only gripe I have against Opera’s zooming feature is the shortcut keys. Failing to follow the standard used by both Firefox and Internet Explorer, the keys are the plus and minus signs on your keypad instead of CTRL + Plus.
And the winner is…
Overall, Opera 9 has undoubtedly the best page zooming feature out of all three browsers. It scales everything like it should and even focuses on where you should start reading. Followed tightly behind with a few rendering bugs is Internet Explorer 7. And sadly the last of the pack is Firefox, looking unlikely to support page-zooming officially in the near future.
