1. Windows Presentation Foundation and User Experience … and Atlas 
Paul Cross
Richard Godfrey
Microsoft

2. Agenda Aims Side-Aims Anti-Aims Suggest how we have got to ‘here’
Show where Microsoft are heading as a ‘Roadmap’
Side-Aims
Provide examples and demos for illustration
Anti-Aims
Too much marketing 
Show ‘how’ to use the technologies
Dig into implementation depth

3. User Experience 'UX' Matters

4.
What is UX?
VHS VCR
PVR (Windows MCE)

5. The world we are in …

7. The 'Real World' Functionality traditionally comes first
Little application development time for 'user experience' beyond prototypes
Cost/Value justification breaks down?
Developers are not designers!
Except some Web developers?
Tooling inadequate
Flash? CSS?

8. Consumers and the Enterprise
Consumer activity drives enterprise activity
Windows
Office
XBox Live
GPU
Blogging
Online Presence – Messenger, Yahoo, AOL, ICQ … …

9. Why does it matter now? It always mattered  Information Overload
Real Business impact
Faster
Make business decisions faster on more data
Cheaper
Reduce costs
Less training time (e.g. PoS operators)
Reduce errors e.g. restricted UI, User self service
Better
Enhanced user/customer experience
Data visualisation
‘Stickiness’ e.g. Making it more stylish, approachable

10. Is it a Client or a Server?
Through the decades …
White coats
The 50s: Scheduling Time
The 60s: Batch Processing
The 70s: Timesharing & OLTP
Empowering the user
The 80s: PCs & Client-Server
User self-service
The 90s: Internet & Services
Community
The 00s: Users & Experiences?
Observations
Computing power moving to the ‘edge’ of the network
E.g. CPU, GPU
Mobile devices
Move to user centricity
BUT … Issues with deployment, manageability, security …
Rhetorical Question: Is the Thin Client era a stop-gap?

11. Switch to Paul

12. Where are we now (or nearly)?
'SOA' in the Enterprise
Thin client experience seen as lacking (AJAX)
'Web 2.0' and 'Mashups' in the consumer space
Designers engaged in the software lifecycle
Tooling directed at the User Experience domain
Agile development practices

13. Richness vs. Complexity
UX Richness
Developer Productivity
ASP.NET 2.0
(HTML)
Windows
Forms 2.0
DHTML
Direct 3D v9
Availability:
1997
2005

14. Web Services &
Offline/Online
support
Developer
Productivity
Tough to
Deploy
Heavy
Footprint
DLL Hell
Network
Dependency
Limited User
Experience
Complex
To Develop
Rich User
Experience
Easy Change
Management
Responsive
Ease of
Deployment

15. AJAX/Atlas

16. AJAX is … Not a product Not a specification Not a standard
Not a floor cleaning product
Not the name of the son of Telamon of Salamis who fought against Troy
Not an Amsterdam football team

17. AJAX is Asynchronous Javascript And XML
A layer of abstraction between the browser and the web server
Available in Internet Explorer since 1999
Improved UX through client-side interactions while data fetches are asynchronous
According to some commentators, the future of all web development …

18. Typical Technologies for AJAX
XHTML and CSS
Document Object Model (DOM)
XMLHttpRequest object
JavaScript
XML
XSLT
Etc.

19. Demo

20. Atlas Overview End-to-end application framework
Enables building rich, interactive DHTML applications
Component-oriented framework
Imperative and declarative programming models
Integrates with ASP.NET
Extensible Application framework
Custom script components, controls, behaviours
Custom server controls
Enables complex script-based applications
Makes script development more approachable

21. Atlas Approach to Development
Application development
Simple inclusion of script-based functionality via script components, server controls
Separation of UI and behaviour
Component development
Enables disciplined approach to scripting
Framework for encapsulating data and logic
Abstracts browser differences
Provides building blocks for higher level development

22. Atlas Client Overview
Collection of JavaScript (.js) files providing features for object-oriented development
Browser compatibility layer
Atlas core services
Classes, namespaces, event handling, inheritance, data types and object serialisation
Base class library
String builders, debuggers, timers and tracing
Networking layer
Communication with web-based services and applications
Management of the asynchronous remote method calls
UI layer providing a number of Atlas client capabilities:
Behaviours
The Atlas declarative syntax
UI components
Data binding
Controls layer that creates Atlas-specific controls
Data-bound, scripted, drag and drop, auto-completion text box, ordinary form controls, data-bound listview control, navigation controls

23. Atlas Server Overview
Includes components in ASP.NET, including web services and server controls
Work in conjunction with Atlas client script libraries
Leverages the following:
Profiles service
Membership service
Roles service
Personalisation services
Globalisation and culture-specific services
Atlas server controls that resemble ASP.NET server controls
Emit Atlas client script
Simplify the process of producing Atlas client script
E.g. Buttons, labels, options, textboxes, check boxes, hyperlinks and validation controls
Special Atlas controls that emit JavaScript to produce client behaviours
HoverBehavior control, a ClickBehavior control, a Popup control and an AutocompleteBehavior control

24. Atlas Client Framework and Services Atlas Server Framework
What is Atlas?
HTML, Script,
Atlas
Markup
Atlas
Service
Proxies
Atlas-enabled
ASP.NET Pages
Web Services
(ASMX or WCF)
Atlas Client Script Library
Controls, Components
Script Core
Base Class Library
Component Model and UI Framework
Browser Compatibility
ASP.NET Atlas Server Extensions
Atlas
Server Controls
App Services Bridge
Web Services Bridge
Atlas Client Application Services
Local Store
Browser
Integration
ASP.NET 2.0
Application Services
Page Framework,
Server Controls
Atlas Client Framework and Services
Atlas Server Framework

25. Windows Presentation Foundation

26. Windows Presentation Foundation
Next generation framework for building smart clients
That could only be built by very experienced graphic programmers previously
Declarative (XAML) for designers
Object-based for developers
Available for Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

27. Windows Vista Platform
WinFX
Data
Communication
Base Operating System Services
Objects
SQL
XML
WinFS …
'DLinq'
(ADO.NET)
'XLinq'
(System. XML)
Standard
Query
Operators
Language Integrated Query
Identity and Access Services (AD-RMS, AD-STS, 'InfoCard')
Collaboration Services (People Near Me, …)
Windows Workflow Foundation
(System.Workflow)
Presentation
ASP.NET
Windows
Forms
Windows Presentation Foundation
Composition Engine
Visual System
Elements
Documents
Desktop
Window
Manager
Hardware
Rendering
Software UI
Media
Controls
Designer
Services
App
Application
Controls Interop
Hosting
Application Services
Page
Server
'Atlas' Client
Script Framework
'Atlas'
Bridge
(DB2,
Oracle,
Message
Channel (TCP, Peer, Security, Reliability, …)
Binding (WS-*, HTTP/XML, …)
System.ServiceModel
Windows Communication Foundation
Web Services
(HTTP, REST, XML-RPC, RSS, WS*, …)
Protocols
(Pipes, IPvX/Sec, UDP, TCP, SMTP, …)
Contracts
(XSL, XSD, WSDL, SDM,… )
Declarative Programming
(XAML, Workflow, ASP.NET, …)
Integration
Transactions
Storage
Network Services
Base Class Libraries
Memory Manager
Hosting Layer
Code Execution
Loader
Security
Serialization
Lightweight
Transaction Coordinator
Kernel Transaction Manager
Logging Service
Kernel
Hardware Abstraction Layer
Process
Security Reference Monitor
LPC Facility
Power Manager
Config Manager
Plug and Play
Transacted
NTFS
Cache
Universal
Format
Filter
Engine
TCP, UDP
IPV4, IPV6
IPSEC
QOS
HTTP
Listener
Internet Connection Firewall
Demand Activation and Protocol Health
PNRP
Native
WiFi
SIP
TCP
UDP
IPC
Network Class Library
GDI/GDI+
Global
Audio
Direct 3D Graphics
Graphics drivers
DDI
Input
Drivers
DirectX
Graphics
Mini port
Redirectors
SCSI/FC
802.3
802.11 ..
Device Drivers
Management
(Event Logs,
Tracing,
Probes,
Auto Update,
Admin)
IO Manager
Application Deployment
(Click-Once)
Identity &
System
FAT 16/32
Distributed
File System
Virtual Shadow
Copy Service
File Replication
Service
Virtual Disk
CLR

28. Windows Presentation Foundation (1)
Full Trust or
Web Browser App (.wba)
Click-Once Deployment

29. Windows Presentation Foundation (2)
Declarative XAML
Tool-able
Data Driven

30. Graphics Designer & Developer in Perfect Harmony 

31. Windows Presentation Foundation (3)
Control Composition
Unified API for UI, Documents, Media
Rich Control Set

32. Windows Presentation Foundation (4)
Rich Media
Vector
Raster
Text 3D
Video
Scalable UI
Animation
Hardware Rendering & Composition

33. Windows Presentation Foundation (5)
Readability
Printing

34. What couldn’t be done easily before?
2-dimensional and 3-dimensional graphics
Animation
Vector-based graphics
the capability to zoom without distorting the image
Audio and video integration
Fixed and flow format documents
Easy data binding, styling, templates
WYSIWYG & vector-based printing

35. Windows Presentation Foundation

36. Demo

37. 'WPF/E' Web Architecture
Browser
Application / OS
Content
Package
XAML
Programming
Model
'WPF/E' Runtime
Plug-ins
Platform Specific
Hosting Model
JavaScript
C# / VB.NET
Native API
XML - Data
Fonts
Video/Audio
Images
Native 'WPF/E' API
UI & Rendering Core
Platform Abstraction Layer

38. Media Integration Layer
'WPF/E' Features
Core Runtime
Base Services
Media Integration Layer
Other Services
XML/XAML Parser 2D
Text
Core Controls
Accessibility
Audio
Video
Container Controls
Input and Eventing
Imaging
Animation
Basic Layout
Property System
Composition Engine

39. Summary

40. Richness vs. Complexity
ASP.NET
'Atlas'
Approachable
Windows
Presentation
Foundation
Optimised Richness
& Approachable
UX Richness
Developer Productivity
ASP.NET 2.0
(HTML)
Windows
Forms 2.0
DHTML
(AJAX)
Direct 3D
v10
Richness
Direct 3D v9
Availability:
1997
2005
2006

41. What to use … and when? WPF Pros Atlas Pros Richest experience
Offline capability
ClickOnce deployment
Text/Fonts
Atlas Pros
Platform reach
Extends current web technology (HTML, CSS, etc.)
Zero deployment
WPF Cons
Microsoft XP & Vista specific (for now)
Client footprint required
Tools lag
Atlas Cons
Learning curve (less with)
Maintainability (less with)
Requires Javascript on browser
Restricted by Javascript and HTTP abilities
Compatability?
Tools lag

42. Platform Roadmap Now 2007 2006 H2 2006 H1 Expression Interactive
Designer
VS 'Orcas' (inc Atlas)
2006 H2
Vista Release (inc WPF)
2006 H1
WPF Beta2
Now
WPF Feb CTP
Atlas Mar CTP & Go Live Licence

43. Next Session – WRK10104 Workshop A look at Atlas and WPF in action
Q&A & Debate
In Conwy 2 Room