The WOW Of Windows Vista

I hope everybody liked my previous post featuring Windows Vista. If anybody didn't like it, we always encourage comments so please send in your views through comments. If you are visiting this blog for the first time, my sincere advice to you will be to visit my Previous Post as you can find most of the features there.

Let me first summarize what I am going to write in this post. As Vista is a new operating system, there is a possibility that many of you do not have hands on experience on it. In this post, I will be describing some of the personalized, application specific features of Windows Vista which I didn’t write in my previous post. You will definitely find this very useful while working on Vista. The topics which I will be covering in this post are the Glass effect, Building RSS applications, User Account Controll, Programming controls, Restart & Recovery, Gadgets and Error reporting. I will also provide links to short duration videos about 10 min or less, in which you can see how these effects look in real time. Mind you, these videos are generated by Microsoft © 2006 , I am just providing the links to view them. So let’s not waste time and start . . . . .



Live Features Of Windows Vista



The best feature which I observed in vista is the drag and drop feature, to view a source code of an html or an XML file, you do not need to click on view source code option which you were doing in XP. Here you can just drag the icon and drop it on a code editor (mostly used is Microsoft Visual Studio) to view the source code.


Glass Effect

We all have noticed that there will be something new in every release of Microsoft’s Windows Operating Systems family. Same way Vista is know for its fast performance and graphical design. But apart from the internal features, Microsoft has worked hard to get that stunning look in this OS which makes it a Brand new piece in the software universe. The crystal effect or glass effect what ever you call it as is one of them, this feature allows you to see the background window with its contents while working on the top window. See how to Create Glass with C# in windows Vista. If you want to download this clip to view it offline Click Here


Building RSS Applications

Windows Vista comes with IE 7 as the default browser and the facility to create RSS feed reader API as mentioned in my previous post. Many companies found IE 7 to be in-compatible with their enterprise level applications like Citrix and few others but the main advantage of using IE 7 is, the RSS compatibility in it. All the internet surfers and casual users can take advantage of this feature, in which you can subscribe to multiple sites or blogs to get updated with their recent posts. See how you can Create RSS Feed API, but be careful when you are working with COM based API from .NET, release the objects if they are not in use. If you want to download this clip Click Here


Programming Controls

Program the Command Controls of Vista, you can create your own task dialogue boxes, save them so that they can be used further. Every thing is by programming the APIs. See how you can Create Dialogue Box. To download this clip, Click Here


User Account Controll

In vista, there is a secure feature called User Account control, this features allows the programs which need admin privileges to run in standard user account. As a result, making your system more secure and preventing the malicious codes to run on your computer if your account has admin privileges. See how this is coded using Microsoft Visual Studio. If you want to view this clip offline, you can Downloadthis clip.


Restart & Recovery

Now your applications are not vulnerable to system crash. When ever an application crashes, the session on which you are working is stored in a temporary file and then the internal system of the OS tries to restart your application. When your application is recovered and restarted, it will begin from where it has left before restarting. Isn’t this a great feature, look how this is programmed using Visual Studio here View this clip offline, Download it here


Gadgets Beauty

Vista is like a gadget guru for users who make use of gadgets a lot, it is in build with so many gadgets and gives the space to download others to add them on your desktop. If you have ever worked with Google Gadgets, you will understand the power of gadgets. In vista, you do not need any third party gadget application to decorate your desktop, Vista itself is a big gadget. See how you can Add Gadgets and modify them according to your use, to view this clip offline, Click Here



Error Reporting

Users who use Microsoft products hates to the wait and same does the developers of Vista. What do you do if you get a display on the task header of an application window as “applicaton (not responding)”? Hanged applications can be closed from the task dialogue box itself within no time, you don’t need to open task manager and kill that application to close it as you were doing in XP. As we all know the Microsoft keeps developing its own OS from time to time by releasing patches and updates to remove its vulnerabilities. This is done by taking suggestions from its users. By sending reports of your errors to Microsoft, you can help Microsoft in filling up the gaps in its softwares. In Vista there is a more advanced error reporting technology. Daniel Moth shows about Error Reporting and winqual technical support for Vista. To view it offline, you can Download it here.




Microsoft’s Web Castes

These free 90-minute webcasts provide an opportunity to interact with Microsoft subject matter experts, to view them you have to get registered with microsoft. Its free, so go ahead and make use of this useful resources.

1) Tips and tricks for targeting native APIs

2) Get your applications ready for Windows Vista

3) Build a sidebar gadget