I don't try very hard to keep track of where Microsoft is going with it's GUI technologies, but I apparently need to try a little harder, cuz I'm always confused when I read stuff out in the blogosphere.
After the Sept ‘05 PDC, apparently Avalon (codename) is now called the
Windows Presentation Foundation or WPF.
That same blog links to an app from MS called Max, and its webpage says it's built on
WinFX technology. Is that part of WPF?
After the same PDC,
this guy laments:
Now we have to choose between Atlas, WinForms, or WPF: Three modern and totally different ways for application data to hit pixels. MS continues to push all three. I can only imagine that inside MS there is some friction over that situation. Shouldn't the story be WPF all the way (with Mono for non-MS platforms)? To some extent, Atlas is an admission that WPF is slow to the game, and MS needs a rich web story now.
...Atlas being Microsoft's new ASP.Net AJAX framework. Codename or product name? Ah,
codename.
WinForms is what you get in .NET Framework right now. Avalon is the new stuff that was going to be Longhorn (which is now Vista, right?) only, but might be backported to XP. And WinFX is ... (from the earlier link)
WinFX is Windows Vista's managed-code programming model, building on and extending the .NET Framework. ... Traditional system-level APIs like Win32 were primarily focused on the system software developer as a customer. WinFX represents an opportunity to reach out to new customers, and consequently it needs to be simpler to build applications on. Since a core feature of Windows Vista is the new Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly code-named “Avalon”) subsystem and the AERO shell, a core customer will become the “designer” who will help provide a rich, elegant user experience.
Wow, a lot of marketing hoo-doo in all that. So I guess WinFX is a part of WPF. Maybe. Bleh.
Ok - this
blog entry makes it clear that Avalon/WPF is a portion of WinFX.
You will love this drop of WinFX ... it has the Windows Workflow Services stuff in there as well as Windows Presentation Foundation (“Avalon”) and Windows Communication Foundation (“Indigo”)
tags:
ComputersAndTechnology