Torres Talking: Windows

Windows Vista: Speech and Touch Interfaces

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 03:06:11 GMT

I just spent 30 minutes playing with Windows Vista's speech recognition while I was feeding Stella (and therefore armless). It was pretty amazing, to be honest. I think I've blogged in the past with how impressed I was with the speech recognition and yet I'm still impressed a year later. It's one of those technologies that you just expect to suck - and when it works this well, it's pretty cool. It makes you feel like we're actually making progress with the whole natural interface thing.

Check out this (old) video from Long Zheng which gives a quick overview of some of the capabilities:

And another thing I didn't even know Windows Vista did (I don't have a tablet anymore) is support touch natively. There aren't any great videos of this, but this one gives a bit of an overview of one of the features. Unfortunately, it doesn't really show "touch flicks" which let you navigate by flicking, writing with your finger tip, "pen flicks", or any of the cool ink features. It's always fun to learn about "new" things your year-old OS is capable of though. Can you tell I'm on a Vista kick?

Automatic hibernation & reboot

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:12:52 GMT

I learned a cool little Vista hack this morning while skimming this book:

To cut down on energy bills - but still have my computer available when I need it - I'm now automatically hibernating my desktop PC every night, and then forcing a reboot in the morning to wake it up and "flush the system" so it continues to run smoothly. I shouldn't have to force a reboot - and the reality is, I don't need to reboot daily by any stretch - but it's nice to know the machine will be in the ideal state every morning. There are three tasks I have running on a schedule that I had to work around: OneCare tune-up, Windows Update, and SyncBack automatic backup. So this is what I'm trying:

OneCare will tune up my PC every 2 weeks @ 11pm on Sunday night.
SyncBack will backup my personal files @ 11pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Windows Update will check for updates and automatically install them @ 9am everyday. I'm not sure if Windows Update is smart enough to wake the PC from hibernation and then put it back to sleep so for now, I'm running it at a time when I know the PC will be on - otherwise 3am would be fine.

And my computer will hibernate between 12am and 8am everyday and then reboot. I know I'm going to have to tweak these times to get it just right. Here's how I set that up.

Go into Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Schedule Tasks (you need to be an Administrator to do this).
Click "Create Basic Task" in the action bar.
Name the first task "Hibernate", set it to the appropriate time (mine is set to Daily, 12am), and indicate that you'd like to "Start a program". The program should be shutdown and the optional arguments should be /h to indicate hibernation.
Then, if you want to, select "Open the properties dialog for this task when I click Finish" and specify that the task should "Run whether user is logged on or not" to make sure it happens no matter who is currently logged in. What I did was also set it to "Start the task only if the computer is idle for 10 minutes" and "Wait for idle for 1 hour" in Conditions just in case a OneCare tune-up or SyncBack backup was still running after an hour.
Name the second task "Reboot", set it to the appropriate time (mine is set to Daily, 8am) and indicate that you'd like to "Start a program" again. The program again should be shutdown but the optional arguments should be /r to indicate rebooting. You can also get fancy with this one and add other switches like /t 90 which will execute the command after 90 seconds, or /c "Rebooting!" which will pop a dialog on the screen for you just in case you're on the machine and in the middle of something (since you WILL lose it). So you'd end up with a command that looks like this: shutdown /r /t 90 /c "I'm about to reboot! You have 90 seconds."
Then, if you want to, select "Open the properties dialog for this task when I click Finish" and specify that the task should "Run whether user is logged on or not" to make sure it happens. For this one, I also checked "Wake the computer to run this task" under Conditions since my computer will be hibernating at the time. You may not have to do this.

That should do the trick. [One thing I love about blogging is that just by publishing this to my own blog for you to read, I make sure I don't lose it or forget how to do it!]

DreamScene and DeskScapes

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:30:49 GMT

This is wild.

DreamScene, which most of you probably know about from CES in January, has just been released as a Windows Vista Ultimate Extra. It's truly breathtaking when you find the "right" video to use. What I didn't realize was that Stardock came out with a plug-in to the plug-in called DeskScapes which not only gives you access to hundreds of Dream files for your desktop, but also does some crazy stuff:

DeskScapes enriches and extends ordinary Dream files by allowing users to add dynamic content to their animated wallpapers. For example, have your Dreams change automatically based on time of day or local weather.

Slick. If you have Ultimate and a powerful enough machine, this stuff is hypnotizing. It's really worth seeing in action. All of a sudden, my Vista machine became a lot cooler looking than my Mac -- which looks surprisingly dated! More information on Dreams:

Dreams are high quality animated wallpapers that run exclusively on Windows Vista Ultimate and transform the static desktop users spend all day looking at into a world of motion and activity.

Dreams are subtle, looped motion videos or animations that bring new life to the desktop without slowing down your PC. Watch a serene nature scene while you type an email. Glance at a meteor shower as you work on a document. Make your desktop interesting again with Windows DreamScene and Windows Vista Ultimate.

IE7Pro: Where have you been?

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 06:10:39 GMT

Thanks to Ed Bott for re-introducing me to IE7Pro the other day after lunch. Why did I wait so long to install this thing? It's a super-simple download and brings all the cool features of those other browsers to IE7. It's going to take me some time to get used to it and figure out all the things I can do, but so far I'm really, really enjoying inline search, form spell check, super drag-drop, crash recovery and ad blocking (while I would never look for an ad blocker, I wouldn't turn one off either if it's turned on by default as it is here).

Here are all the nifty features of IE7Pro:

IE7Pro is a must have add-on for Internet Explorer, which includes a lot of features and tweaks to make your IE friendlier, more useful, secure and customizable. IE7Pro includes Tabbed Browsing Management, Spell Check, Inline Search, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Web Accelerator, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Greasemonkey like User Scripts platform, User Plug-ins and many more power packed features. You can customize not just Internet Explorer, but even your favorite website according to your need and taste using IE7Pro.

If you like IE7 but want some of these more advanced features, you should totally give it a shot.

By the way, I should be a father within 3 or 4 weeks, likely sooner. Pretty crazy time.

Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d: Not for Windows users!

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:43:30 GMT

I should have done my research. A couple months ago, I decided to upgrade my local storage system for the first time in a long time. I wanted to get enough hard disk capacity to not have to think about the problem again for a few years (preferably something like five!) so I went with a 2TB Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d NAS (network attached storage device) after hours of research online. Turns out I missed one tiny detail: it runs Linux, not Windows.

This may not seem like it would be a big deal, but my master plan had me mapping all my Vista user folders to the NAS so I could use it for primary storage in a RAID5 configuration. So folders like C:\Users\Mike\Documents would actually be mapped to \\batcave\Mike\Documents behind the scenes and Windows would function as if the files were stored locally. All the while, the files would be "safe" inside the NAS thanks to RAID - and of course, other backup solutions on top of it.

Turns out that plan didn't work. As soon as I remapped Vista's home folders to a network folder, desktop.ini would appear in the folder. I would delete that and "$RECYCLE.BIN" would appear. I would delete that and it would just return a second later. Other things were wonky too in that files like Thumbs.DB and the file Media Center uses to store thumbnails would randomly appear - and Windows started to treat them like "real files" when doing things like thumbnail generation on the Pictures folder. So instead of my Pictures folder consisting of nice looking thumbnails based on my photos, they were weird gear symbols since there were DB and INI files visible inside those folders.

At first I thought this was just Windows doing something weird. After some experimentation, I learned that I couldn't set any file attributes on any files stored on the network drive. So after spending, oh, about two straight days copying files (300GB worth) to the Iomega NAS and about five more hours troubleshooting this, I called Iomega and they very matter-of-factly told me that this was due to the fact that the StorCenter Pro 150d (unlike higher end models) runs Linux... and Linux doesn't honor Windows security or file attributes like hidden, system, or read-only.

Things I wish I knew before buying this thing.

After arguing with the guy for 20 minutes, he told me they couldn't take the device back for a refund since 30 days had already passed. Of course, I was pretty livid at this point - you can't find detailed information on this device anywhere on Iomega.com or in the Help files. Nothing that says that you can't HIDE files or make them read-only, something that seems like a basic necessity of any storage device. Maybe I should have realized that when it says "Linux" in the fine-print (which I didn't see earlier) that means Windows users just have to deal with strange folders and files appearing throughout their file system. Maybe it's my fault for not knowing this, although my assumption is that most Windows users wouldn't. The kicker is that it doesn't work with Mozy either - something else I should have looked into before buying this thing.

Either way, I now have a $1100 paperweight. Not being able to do basic things with my files is a necessity. So I purchased two 750GB USB2 drives to replace the NAS last night, fully expecting to sell this puppy for what I paid for it on Craig's List or eBay this week. I'm sure it's a great storage device for gearheads who run desktop Linux - or maybe for people who are primarily Mac-based - but for those of us living in a Windows world, it was a bad, bad purchase. So in short, if you're running Windows and want a NAS to use for primary storage, do not buy an Iomega StorCenter Pro 150d. You're better off winging it on much cheaper and much more flexible USB2 or Firewire drives.

In the meantime, if you're one of those afore mentioned gearheads interested in a very barely-used Iomega NAS, hit me up with a message or shoot me an email at mtorres at microsoft (dot com).

Windows Home Server Prototype

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:34:37 GMT

OK, I'm getting more and more excited about Windows Home Server. I love that automatic remote desktop feature and the promise of "uploading photos from a kiosk in Tahiti" to my home server directly someday.

Check out this prototype that Charles Kindel (a Home Server team member) has on his blog:

Link to cek.log

I...want...that...thing... Especially if it really glows green (and red if something is wrong!)

Bill Gates @ CES

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:02:31 GMT

Steve Jobs doesn't have anything on Bill and team. I had no idea the Xbox IPTV announcements were coming (until Gizmodo mentioned it the other day). I can't really imagine any announcement at MacWorld comparing to this stuff (unless the Tivo thing actually happens) just due to the sheer scale of it all. Then again, you know how I felt about the iTV when it was announced (overpriced, unimpressive, and unnecessary). I'll write something up after MacWorld just for kicks.

So without further ado, some of the highlights of the CES 2007 Bill Gates keynote:

Windows Vista, Live Search, and Office 2007. Demos of local file search, thumbnail previews, explorer preview pane, shadow copy, real-time preview and document formatting, and all the same kind of stuff they showed last year. Cool, especially now that it's just about available... They also showed navigating through Virtual Earth in 3D using an Xbox controller which got good applause. It really is amazing ;)

They then showed off the SportsLounge extension for Media Center (available in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate). You get real-time sports scores, alerts, and sports filter programming in Media Center. You can even track all your fantasy teams, update player stats, and setup alerts which will interrupt you while you are watching TV. It's a "dream if you're a sports fan".

Ultimate Extras for Windows Vista (downloads that enhance the OS) were also shown. Something called Group Shot which combines multiple photos into one very easily so you can make your own photos. DreamScene is a full-motion desktop. Love it. You can make any movie your desktop wallpaper - the example was a waterfall which looked fantastic. This is like the future of the old Windows Plus Pack.

Some great new hardware like the HP TouchSmart PC, the Medion UMPC, a new Toshiba Vista Tablet PC with SideShow support, and the OQO Model 02.
Windows Home Server. Automated backup, connectivity to all PCs in your home including Xbox, remote connectivity for accessing files remotely (and actual PC screens via remote desktop), and an upper bound of "terabytes" of storage. When I first heard about this, I wasn't all that excited. And then I watched the video demo and I want this thing badly. My bud CJ briefs you on Windows Home Server here (on10.net). Here's the HP model below, the MediaSmart Server.
Connected entertainment. Windows Mobile phones like the Dash, Q, and Blackjack outsell Blackberry. Windows is the leading gaming platform (people may think it's Xbox or PS2... but it's Windows). 10.4 million Xbox 360s shipped and over 2 million Gears of War units sold. Halo 3, shipping this year, was previewed with a fun trailer. Xbox Live has 5 million members, the largest "social network on TV". Fun stats.
Xbox Live on Windows. WOOHOO! Windows Vista machines can connect right up to Xbox Live directly so Windows users can play games against Xbox users and vice versa - and you can even use an Xbox 360 controller to do it. There was a Live guide which looks a lot like Xbox 360 just optimized for Windows. The demo they gave was Uno - one person on the Xbox playing against another person on the Xbox 360. This is no joke. The Xbox guys get it. This comes out this summer.

Demo of Xbox Live's Video Marketplace (with a shoutout to Superman Returns) and an explanation of how people are using Xbox Media Center extenders to stream high-def and standard-def content to their Xbox.
TV (IPTV) on Xbox. Using "instant channel zapping" you can flip through channels just like you could back in 1980 by flipping the switch on the tube. Great picture in picture, HD and standard-def recording ala Media Center or Tivo, and on-demand programming. This was all running on an Xbox 360. You can get game invites while watching TV, and even talk with friends on Xbox Live while you're watching TV. More about TV on Xbox here (on10.net). Again, this is no joke. This is a serious, serious announcement that will have ramifications for years to come. But it doesn't look like it will be available until the end of the year (again, why do we announce things so far in advance?)
"Sync" in-car computing. Voice activated in-car productivity and entertainment system driven by Windows for Automative. This stuff is finally happening after almost a decade of hype - it's great. You can hook right up to your car via Bluetooth, place and receive calls through the car's audio system, and seamlessly switch to Sync when you get into the car. It even reads text messages outloud! It works with all portable music players and can even create personalized playlists with a voice command. It will be available on over a dozen Ford cars this year.

I have a bunch more editorial to add in the days and weeks to come, but for now: just the facts, jack.

Some of you may be wondering where all the Windows Live announcements were... Well, speaking personally (and not for our PR or Marketing teams) I can only imagine that CES is NOT the best venue for announcing everything, especially when you're competing with everything else announced at this time. You want to give people exciting things to write and talk about all year long, not just at the beginning of January. I wouldn't worry too much about cool stuff from Windows Live - more coolness is on the way!

Natural Language Search in Windows Vista

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:18:52 GMT

I just stumbled upon something in Windows Vista that totally made my day (considering I'm writing this at 6:00am on a flight down to San Jose, at least I suspect it will make my day... until my head hits the pillow again!)

A few years ago, I was hooked on a Microsoft-internal desktop search tool called FindMyStuff. It was a research project that ended up spawning the first version of MSN Desktop Search... which eventually became Windows Desktop Search. The beauty of this application, and what (for some reason) was removed when it was productized, was the ability to use natural language to search for anything on your machine. It was crazy cool.

And I thought it disappeared. But it turns out Windows Vista has something similar. I don't know why I didn't know about this until three minutes ago when I found it in Search Options. I was messing around with some of the settings when I found an (unchecked!) checkbox for "Use natural language search" in Folder and Search Options:

After selecting this, my desktop searches became much easier to construct. I no longer have to remember the syntax for constructing advanced searches - and it works with all aspects of the search interface, even from the Start Menu itself (which is where I normally kickoff a search from).

Compare the difference when I search for "pictures taken last week" from the Start menu. Without natural language search turned on:

With natural language search turned on:

The same kind of thing happens with queries about email or other files. Examples:

Email to Jay Fluegel about Sony Vaio
Email from Bill Gates sent yesterday
Music by Eminem rated *****

When I get back to Seattle tonight after this day-trip to the Valley, I'm going to dig around and see if I can find a complete reference for using natural language search. The Help files, at least while not connected to the web, aren't exhaustive. I just want to see what's possible here. While not quite as cool as the FindMyStuff project, this is a much easier way to find stuff on your desktop than using boolean filters and file properties like "kind: document author: (Charlie OR Herb)". Ugh.

And of course, once the search has been performed, you can save it as a Search Folder for future reference:

...and even add Searches to your Favorite Links in Explorer for easy reference:

The option for using natural language search should definitely be turned on by default; I don't know why it isn't. Even still, Windows Vista makes me smile almost everyday now. 24 days and counting down to launch!

Minimize vs. Close

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 03:34:02 GMT

Something else I wish all Windows applications would standardize on after getting the toolbar thing straight: Minimizing vs. closing.

This is especially apparent in applications that you have to have open most of the time - things like email, IM, and music - because you want them to be open but you don't want them to be in your face. An obvious solution is to minimize them, but then they take up valuable space (especially on a laptop) in the taskbar. When you're trying to actually do work and have a bunch of windows open already (in my case IE, Explorer, SnagIt, iTunes, Paint.NET, Writer, etc.) you don't want space taken up by applications that need to be open all the time like Messenger or Outlook.

So some applications, when minimized, go to the system tray. Examples of this are Microsoft Outlook and iTunes when you configure them to do this. Yet some applications, when minimized go to the taskbar and NOT the system tray. These applications go to the system tray when you close them. Examples of this are Windows Messenger, OneCare, and Live Mail Desktop.

I can't tell you how many times I've minimized something like Messenger and had to reopen it just to close it (to stick it in the system tray and not the taskbar). Or, worse, how many times I've closed Outlook thinking I was sending it to the system tray when in reality, it closed completely. An hour later I wonder why I haven't received any email. This is especially jarring with iTunes when you're actually listening to something.

For what it's worth, the Mac does something kind of nice here by never actually closing applications until you hit CMD-Q - but it's so different from what Windows does that it confuses me (and my mother!) Every time I think I'm closing an application, it's still running until I take my hand off of the mouse and do some weird keyboard maneuver... or go to App menu: Quit. It's just awkward, even after 5 years of doing it.

Yeah, so this bugs me. But before you jump on me, I know there are more important things in the world to worry about. I just had to get it off my chest.

What's on your Start menu? (2006 redux)

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 02:00:44 GMT

A year and a half ago, I blogged about what was sitting on my Start Menu in response to Ed Bott and Dwight Silverman in a post called What's on your Start menu? Well here we are a few months after I first started running Windows Vista (RC1 then Final/RTM) and what's on my Start menu has changed a bit. I thought it would be useful to list some of the additions and removals - then again, it could be a total waste of 15 minutes because I'm assuming people actually care.

One thing that's worth mentioning is that my use of the Start menu has changed with Windows Vista. With XP, I would "pin" all the apps I used most frequently to the Start menu and keep programs under "All Programs" very strictly organized under categories like Entertainment, Internet, Office, and System. Setting up a new PC was always such a pain because it would take me 15 minutes just to get my Start menu back to a point where I could actually find something. It's a pet peeve of mine to leave the XP Start menu alone to grow organically because it gets completely unwieldy after just a few installations. I could never find anything (what's the logic for the default grouping? Or putting each application in their own folder upon installation?)

With Vista, that concern is completely gone. I use the Start menu so differently now that it has instant search built-in. Here are some examples:

When I want to start an application, I just hit the Start button on my keyboard and start typing. For example, to start Microsoft Word, I just type "w", "o", "r" and up pops Word. The enter key launches it. This is how I start almost every application now as it's SO much faster than hunting through menus when you know exactly what you want.
I've found that the "frequently used" algorithm is a lot more useful for some reason, so I actually let it build up what's on the main pane of the Start menu automatically.
A lot of programs are installed in the root menu of All Programs (which I almost never use) so if I ever have to go into that, it's easier to find what I'm looking for. I wish they would all just install there instead of Firefox installing into a "Mozilla Firefox" folder, etc.

So, the short of it is: I don't worry about what's actually on my Start menu anymore. So this should really be called "which applications do you use most often?" But it isn't. Anyway, here they are:

Internet Explorer 7. I still use Firefox occassionally (and exclusively on my Mac) but I just don't have any reason NOT to use IE at this point. It does everything Firefox does and absolutely screams on Vista. I do install a bunch of add-ons though, just like I do in Firefox: Inline Search (MUST HAVE), IESpell, Live Writer Blog This, and the Bloglines add-on.
Microsoft Outlook 2007. My personal productivity headquarters. I've been an Outlook junkie since Outlook 97 and probably use every feature in some way ;)
Windows Live Messenger. This one still goes without saying. This has been, for the last 7 years or so, my primary IM client.
Microsoft Word 2007 & PowerPoint 2007. I wouldn't keep my job if I didn't use them daily for specifications, presentations, vision documents and so on - but like I mentioned yesterday, I actually enjoy using Office now. It's no longer a chore with all the great new usability enhancements.
Windows Photo Gallery. Replaced Picasa. It just feels like it belongs with Windows Vista.
Windows Live Writer. Using it right now. My favorite new Windows Live application along with Live Local 3D.
Windows Live Mail desktop. I don't like running multiple email applications (work + personal) but I really do like this one. It does a really great job with my Live Mail account and lets me send PhotoMail. Someday I would dig having just use ONE email program again, but for now, this is my preferred client for personal use.
SnagIt 8. A perfect program. 'Nuff said.
Paint.net. Free, fast, and wonderfully designed. It's "like Photoshop" but has it's own personality. HIGHLY recommended.
iTunes. Yup, the program I've cursed and scorned over the years is now the default music player on my laptop. I use Windows Media Player 11 on my desktops, but since I have to sync with my iPod nano, I'm sort of forced to use iTunes for now (yes, I know about XPlay). I don't mind it so much - other than the lack of multiple artist support which still confounds me. All of my "digital masters" are in WMA Lossless and I just copy them into 192kbps MP3 for iTunes, so the multiple artist support doesn't affect me as much as it probably affects others.

There you have it...

Officially in love with the HP Crossfire

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:13:31 GMT

All it needs is a screen big enough for movies (19" doesn't cut it - I want 23" or higher) and I'm all over this next year. I've been waiting 4 years to buy a new home office PC... "when Vista ships" was always my timeframe. Well, Vista shipped! And I think we're about to see an influx of all the seriously cool PCs that were just waiting for a fancy new OS to go with them. CES should be great this year.

"iMac killer", I don't know. But it's the closest thing out there (and exceeds the almost perfect iMac in a number of ways).

Source: HP IQ770 "Crossfire" 19-inch touchscreen Media PC revealed!

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Available!

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:30:42 GMT

What are you waiting for?

Download IE7 for Windows XP now!

Windows Vista: Missing the point

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 04:00:45 GMT

I've read a bunch of stuff over the past few months about Windows Vista. Everything from it being a rip-off of OS X to it "not being worth it". What I think people don't realize - or they just don't know - is that there are hundreds of people who have been working on a next generation development platform for 5+ years, and that platform will be included with Windows Vista. It's called .NET Framework 3.0.

You may not have heard much about it (it's taken many names) but the key thing to realize is that with .NET 3.0, Microsoft is enabling a whole new world of connected applications that have never been possible before. If you aren't a developer (and I'm not anymore) then it wouldn't do much good to get into specifics; the exciting thing to realize is just that Vista has the potential to change a lot about your experience beyond the new shiny wizards and buttons it comes with. Applications for the next decade built to run on .NET 3.0 will be light-years better than anything in the Windows 3.1/95/XP worlds. Don't believe me? Just wait and see for yourself.

The reason I started thinking about this: I stumbled upon one that's available today for Windows XP + Vista (yes, these apps are also available on Windows XP with a free download). Sure there are a bunch of XAML applications floating around in prototype form, but this is the first one I would use everyday. The first one that I've seen to utilize a bunch of the new stuff and connect to a Web 2.0 service (Flickr) and do something useful. I can't wait to see what else people come up with in the years to come - applications like this one simply can't be built on basic web technologies today (CSS/XHTML). It's graphically rich, it uses remote input, it integrates into Windows Media Center, and it probably has auto-update support out-of-box.

Check it out:

Big Screen Photos

Pretty Vista

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:59:09 GMT

I was just looking at Paul's screenshots of the latest version of Vista (build 5365) and they are pretty. I started to get excited thinking about getting a new Vista PC with Media Center capabitilies and having this glorious and fun user interface.

But that excitement started to wane when I realized that I've been feeling this same sense of envy and anticipation for over 3 years (when I first saw a demo of Longhorn in my first few months of Microsoft). I'm tired of waiting, I have to be honest. I'm getting impatient...

The only things keeping me going are my 4+ year old Powerbook (which is still gorgeous) and my Xbox 360. Someday soon I will have a fun PC; I'm ready for it.

MSR Sideshow

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 04:06:41 GMT

With today's announcement of Google Desktop Search 2 and Sidebar, I thought it would be fun to re-read the Microsoft Research Sideshow paper from September 2001.

An updated version of the paper is here with some more developed screenshots. Pretty interesting stuff...

And here is a good shot of MSN Premium's sidebar (called Dashboard). I have always been a big fan of the sidebar paradigm.

What's on your Start menu?

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 01:00:57 GMT

OK, back to the fun stuff. Ed and Dwight ask "What's on your Start menu?"

IE and Outlook remain at the top of my Start menu thanks to Windows XP. Outlook is actually the reason I wasn't a "switcher" over to Mac OS X when Jaguar originally came out... I am a crazy Outlook addict. Apple Mail and iCal, while pretty cool, just don't fit me like Outlook does. I still use Apple Mail just about every day... but I live and breathe in Outlook 2003.

Note that I turned off the "most recently used" feature of the Start menu because I just don't like it. There is something really jarring about programs (or even worse, menu items!) jumping around on the screen when you are trying to find them... always ending up in different spots. Usability nightmare. I prefer to just set my Start menu up when I install Windows and leave it be. If I find it is getting tedious to open any application, I just add it to the Start menu with right-click->Pin to Start Menu.

Personal Files. Shortcut to Z:\Personal Files. Since I partitioned my data this way, I love having it readily available if I need to browse through my files. Although with Windows Desktop Search, I am using this shortcut less and less.
OneNote. One of my all-time favorite applications, although I actually don't use it as much as I would like to.
Microsoft Money 2006. Been using it since Money 98; can't live without it!
Picasa. Still the best photo management application for Windows. Yes, it's from Google.
Windows Media Player. My favorite jukebox with 200GB of WMA Lossless music.
Media Center (Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005). My fingers hurt from typing that product's name, but I love it.
MSN Messenger. Goes without saying, doesn't it?

What do you have on your Start menu?

Talking about Indigo & Avalon

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:37:22 GMT

I am not usually one to complain too loudly about my employer's poor choice in product/service naming. But I have to say something this time... because this one is a little ridiculous.

After a total homerun (Windows Vista!), Microsoft went and renamed two fantastic "products" that used to have inspiring codenames:

According to sources, Microsoft will officially name Avalon the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Indigo the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
Source: Indigo & Avalon - Official Names Revealed

Sigh. If this is true (and I have no idea if this information is accurate, but I sure hope it isn't) then a good amount of inspiration, creativity, and fun emanating from Indigo and Avalon will be lost. While Apple parties on with cool names like Quartz and Carbon, we are left to decipher more inane acronyms with zero originality.

While these aren't end-user facing technologies, developers are people too. People like "cool"... People like to be inspired. Branding is just as important for the developer community as it is for the consumer. And inspiration from something named WPF is a heck of a lot harder to generate than something named Quartz.

I don't know. Maybe I just drank too much coffee today. I am still a huge fan of the Windows Vista name, logo, and treatment (which is now plastered all over our campus)