BCL new features of the .NET Framework 4.0 Beta 2

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 are now available to download. .NET 4 Beta 2 contains various newly introduced BCL features and enhancements in addition to what was included in the earlier version of .NET Framework 4.0 Beta 1. Many of these enhancements were added in large part due to specific feedback and suggestions reported by customers through Microsoft Connect.

New BCL Features in .NET Framework Beta 2.0

1. Complex Number
2. Location
3. Stream Copy (Stream.CopyTo)
4. IObservable<T>
5. Enum.HasFlag
6. String.Connect & String.Join
7. String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace
8. TryParse (In Guid, Version and Enum)
9. Addition Environment.SpecialFolder, Environment.Is64BitProcess and Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem
10. Path.Combine with params support
11. ObservableCollection<T> is now part of System.DLL
12. Int Pointer operations (IntPtr and UIntPtr Subtraction operators)
13. StringBuilder.Clear
14. ServiceInstaller.DelayedAutoStart
15. StopWatch.Restart

-- Kaushal Patel

Contact Me

Task Parallel Library Sample is out now!!!

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 TPL (Task Parallel Library) sample is out now. This sample has been created in .NET Framework 4.0 Beta 2

Click here to get the newest feature of .NET Framework 4.0

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2

On the new years eve; microsoft launched its one of the major and popular development studio i.e Visual Studio 2010. Still its early to discuss the features and improvements that VS.NET 2010 provides. But keep watching this space for more on VS.NET 2010 in coming days.

To download VS.NET 2010 with .NET Framework Beta 4.0

Microsoft Dublin & Velocity

Microsoft Windows Server AppFebric (Dublin and Velocity) is a bundle of integrated technologies which makes easier to develope, extend and manage the web and composite application that runs on IIS.

If you are searching for the Windows Azure platform AppFabric, which helps developers connect apps and services between Windows Azure and on-premises deployments, see the Windows Azure site.

What is Dublin?

Dublin enriches Windows Server to give enhanced hosting and management capabilities for WCF and WF services. Dublin also adds service management extensions to the hosting features of Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Activation Service (WAS), and the run-time components and services of the .NET Framework 4. Dublin addresses the challenges of hosting WCF- and WF-based applications by making it easier to deploy, configure, and manage applications.

Typically in Service Oriented Architecture people are building the service for the different operations and exposes these services to the consumer to consume. Since WCF and WF released; the deployment, monitoring and scaling these services never been an easy task. Some times to consuming these service it self a trouble making task. With the help of Dublin we can perform these tasks almost effortless. Dublin can be easily introduced through IIS management console using the Dublin module of Windows Power Shell.

What is Velocity?

Velocity is a highly scalable in-memory caching mechanism using which one can improve the performance of the application with all types of data. For any application one can leverage the Velocity rather then writing new caching schema. Velocity comes with Dublin; the same setup programme installs Velocity and Dublin.

For more details about the architecture details please Click Here!!


Keep watching this space for more technical updates.

Microsoft released Web Platform Installer 2.0

Commonly known as Web PI; a tool that makes user life easier to sync up with the latest updates for the MS products like Internet Information Services (IIS), Visual Web Developer, .NET Framework, SQL Server Express Edition etc. (List goes on and on and on......). The Web PI has Windows Web Application Gallery using which you can users can have pleasant experience whle blogging. It also provides the support for Content Management Activities.

 

 

For downloading Web PI 2.0 Click Here!!

 

For more technical updates and latest technology news keep watching this space,

 

CX1 (A super comp from Cray) will have Windows HPC Server 2008

Microsoft and Cray on Tuesday took the wraps off a petite supercomputer that runs Windows HPC Server 2008 and, unlike some other supercomputers, doesn't cost more than a Hummer limo.

In fact, Cray's new CX1 supercomputer is priced starting at a relatively cheap $25,000, not bad for an integrated box that weaves together compute, storage, and visualization functions. Cray has designed the CX1 to remove some of the complexity involved with supercomputing that has hindered its adoption, particular in smaller organizations.

Based on 64-bit Windows Server 2008, Windows HPC Server 2008 can scale to thousands of processing cores and features high end management capabilities that span both Windows and Linux platforms. The CX1 uses up to 8 nodes and 16 Intel Xeon processors, with up to 64 gigabytes of memory per node; and also includes up to 4 terabytes of internal storage.

The CX1 is the first Cray supercomputer to use Intel processors, and is also the first fruit from the pact the two companies announced in April to work together on supercomputing systems and technologies over the next few years.

The CX1 is available through Cray's Website and comes with a three-year warranty that includes next-day, on-site Cray-certified support.

Supercomputers help power research in a wide variety of fields, including aerospace, astrophysics, bioinformatics, chemical physics, climate change prediction, medical imaging and the global ATLAS project, which is investigating the forces that govern the universe.

Selection in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RTM (Multiple Control Formatting at it's best]

Last week, I have installed Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RTM and I am happy to bring a new feature in your knowledge [i.e. multiple selection and alignment operations in Design]. This feature has been introduced in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 RTM and Visual Web Developer Express 2008 SP1 RTM.

I do understand that designing pages using absolute positioning of elements is a tedious task and some people avoids it. However we have to been relying on the functionality that Visual Studio used to provide since VS 2002 and expected feature to stay in subsequent versions.


But the things are changing rapidly here. In VS 2008 Microsoft Visual Studio Product Group has replaced old IE based designer by a new designer that is shared with Expression Web and is based on former FrontPage technologies. But neither FrontPage nor Expression Web ever had multiple selection functionality in their releases, even Visual Interdev 98 is amongst the same page with these tools, Thus it took us some time to implement the feature in the new code base and it was not yet ready for SP1 Beta release.


Due to time constraints, not all functionality available in VS 2005 will become available in VS 2008 SP1. Here is what will be included:

1. Multiple selection using Ctrl+Click
2. Primary selection is indicated by white tab
3. Position menu with Absolute and Relative sub items
4. Align, Make Same Size and Order menus commands.
5. Ability to apply property to multiple controls in the Properties window
6. Delete multiple controls

Excluded Functionality :

1. Ability to drag multiple controls
2. Cut/Copy/Paste multiple elements

But its an interesting move: look at these pictures.

Microsoft releases ASP.NET MVC [Model-View-Controller] Preview - 3

Last week (27th May 2008) , Microsoft released the latest preview version of its model-view-controller (MVC) architecture for Web application frameworks.

The debut of Version 3 was announced Tuesday on the blog of Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's .NET Developer Division. This version includes many of the changes detailed in a post in April and several new ones, including improvements to the MVC, bug fixes, additions to HTML helper methods and a new URL routing engine that will also "ship in .NET 3.5 SP1 this summer," Guthrie wrote.

Another improvement he highlighted is a richer URL route mapping offering, including support for new characters.

Guthrie also commented on changes planned for upcoming versions. "In future preview releases, you'll start to see more improvements higher up the programming model stack in areas [such as] views (HTML helpers, validation helpers, etc.); AJAX; subcontrollers and site composition; deeper log-in, authentication, authorization and caching integration; as well as data scaffolding support," he wrote.

The preview is available for public download here. The source code is available here.

Microsoft Research - SecPAL (A new authorization language)

The development of large-scale, decentralized distributed computing environments has highlighted the need for fine-grained control over trust relationships and delegated access rights. Existing approaches do not fully satisfy these needs. They typically lack precision and/or require an undesirable reliance on centralized administration to be effective. In addition, one finds multiple independent mechanisms, with disparate semantics, being used to manage trust, delegation and authorization. This makes it difficult to understand the effective security in large distributed systems and complicates their management.

The goal of the SecPAL project is to develop a language for expressing decentralized authorization policies, and to investigate language design and semantics, as well as related algorithms and analysis techniques. This project is a collaboration between the advanced technology incubation group of Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer and Microsoft Research Cambridge.

Download : SecPAL for .NET

Microsoft Releases ".NET Micro Framework"

Microsoft has announced a new release of its .NET Micro Framework platform for low-end embedded processors. Version 2.5 adds a native TCP/IP stack and support for Web Services on Devices (WSD), which aims to allow network-connected devices to discover and connect to one another without user intervention.Networking a .NET MF device previously required calling through to an underlying operating system with sockets support, according to Microsoft. Version 2.5 now provides a stack that is available even when running directly on the hardware. Since device makers need only provide a driver for the network interface, a wider selection of network-capable hardware development platforms will be available, the company says.Microsoft adds that the new version of .NET MF will also include client and server support for Web Services on Devices, also known as Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS). Already part of Windows Vista and Windows CE 6.0 Release 2, this "enables a USB-like level of plug-and-play for networked devices," in the company's words. DPWS-enabled devices on a network can discover one another, then invoke the functionality each device provides.About .NET Micro Framework Microsoft .NET Micro Framework (.NET MF) in 2006, aiming it at wireless remote controls, watches, and other cost-sensitive devices with constrained processor and memory resources. The .NET MF grew out of Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative, with embryonic versions variously dubbed .NET Embedded and Tiny CLR.According to Microsoft, .NET MF supports low-end embedded processors and doesn't require an MMU (memory management unit). A typical runtime image is only about 300 KB in size, the company says.AvailabilityThe .NET Micro Framework, version 2.5, is available now, according to Microsoft. It is being demonstrated this week at the Embedded Workd 2008 show, in Nuremberg, Germany, in the Microsoft Windows Embedded booth (hall 11, stand 318).

Microsoft Wins Open-Format Designation

Microsoft has won an international standards designation for its open-document format, according to voting results obtained Tuesday, apparently ending a divisive yearlong battle with software rivals before a global standards-setting organization.
Microsoft’s Office Open XML, a format for interchangeable Web documents, was approved by 24 of 32 countries in a core group in a ballot by the International Organization for Standardization. Approval by the standards-setting body, a nongovernmental network of 157 countries based in Geneva, is considered almost certain to influence software spending by governments and large companies.
The tally reversed a loss by Microsoft in first-round voting before an 87-nation panel in September, a process that involved blunt lobbying by both sides toward members of national standards committees — typically made up of technicians, engineers and bureaucrats.
In the final round of voting, which ended Saturday, three-quarters of the core group members — including Britain, Japan, Germany and Switzerland — supported Microsoft’s standard, according to the results document. Of the 87 votes, 10 opposed the standard: Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Ecuador, India, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa and Venezuela.
Under organization rules, at least 66 percent of core group members must accept a standard for it to be approved, and no more than 25 percent of all voting nations can be opposed.
Roger Frost, a spokesman in Geneva for the standardization group, would not confirm that Microsoft’s format had been designated, saying the organization would disclose the vote Wednesday after informing its members. The International Herald Tribune obtained the results from one of the delegations contacted by the standardization group.
Microsoft’s request for rapid approval of its standard in early 2007 produced an intense lobbying campaign by I.B.M. and Sun Microsystems, which had helped develop a rival interchangeable document format called Open Document Format.
This rival was the first interchangeable document format to receive approval by the standardization group in 2006, and its backers used that in selling the technology to governments and large companies. The format is now being considered for use by 70 nations.
Microsoft’s push for speedy approval led to objections from many members of the standards group. They felt pressure from the company, whose Office application suite is the standard on more than 90 percent of computers and archives worldwide, according to International Data in Framingham, Mass.
There were tart remarks even from countries that abstained from the vote, like the Netherlands. “This is like someone with six shopping carts of food trying to go through the express lane at a supermarket,” said Michiel Leenaars, a member of the Dutch delegation. “The end result of this will be confusion. The standard is simply too big. There are still a lot of questions out there.”