windows presentation foundation future

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Is WPF Dead? The Data Says Anything But, here’s why

TLDR: We review the status of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) in 2024 and beyond, whether it’s usage is increasing or declining and if this is a good platform to develop on for the long term. We talk about why WPF is still popular for performance or critical apps, particularly in the scientific, engineering or medical fields, and what alternatives there are for enterprise software development. Plus, our views on the ever changing landscape for desktop or cross-platform application development both now and in the future.

What is WPF?

WPF or Windows Presentation Foundation is a graphical framework by Microsoft for building rich interactive and visually appealing desktop applications. WPF has been around since 2006 where it was first introduced as codename ‘Avalon’ in Microsoft .NET Framework v3.0. Since then, WPF has undergone many evolutions and is actively maintained by Microsoft almost 20 years later! Supporting desktop application development on Windows, WPF is dependent on Microsoft .NET and applications can be built in C# or Visual Basic .NET.

WPF features a declarative markup language known as XAML, allowing clean separation of View (user-interface) and Model (data). It has many benefits such as rich vector graphics, resolution independence, DirectX hardware acceleration, a powerful data-binding engine and the ability to create entirely custom user interfaces or controls via Templates and Styles.

Below we will expand on the reasons why WPF continues to be popular, and what the future holds for this platform.

What are the Alternatives to WPF?

Past & Present alternatives to WPF on the XAML / C# stack in chronological order include:

• Avalonia (2011 – present), an open source platform XAML / C# framework
• Xamarin (2011 – 2024), a Cross-platform XAML / C# application framework for building mobile apps and desktop apps, which will be deprecated this year
• WinRT (2012 – 2015), a Microsoft Windows 8 based replacement for WPF which was ultimately deprecated.
• UWP (2015 – present), a Microsoft Windows 10 based replacement for WPF which is still active, but somewhat superseded by WinUI
• WinUI (2018 – present), a Microsoft Windows 10 based successor to WPF
• MAUI (2022 – present), a Microsoft cross-platform XAML / C# application framework which replaces Xamarin and with a focus on mobile apps
• Avalonia XPF (iii) (2023 – present), a 100% feature compatible replacement for WPF by the Avalonia team which allows WPF applications to run on Linux and macOS without code changes.

In addition, there are other cross-platform or desktop frameworks that are not based on C#. These include:

• Flutter: A cross-platform Dart framework for building mobile apps
• Qt: C++ based user interface framework for cross-platform applications
• JavaScript / React: Various flavours of JavaScript (or TypeScript) plus React or React Native allow creating cross platform applications

Is Javascript / React a Viable Alternative to WPF?

This article is primarily focussed on Microsoft or Xaml / C# frameworks, however, let’s cover quickly the topic of whether JavaScript / React is a viable alternative to WPF.

There are many applications which were developed on WPF which could be ported to JavaScript. However, there is still a large subset of applications for which WPF is a great choice vs. JavaScript or browser technologies. Those include, applications which require: 

• Native performance
• 64-bit memory addressing on the client
• Multi-threading and making use of all cores on the client

In addition, there are other advantages of developing for WPF, which are listed below.

What are the Advantages of WPF?

As a C# based user-interface framework with a long track record of stability and performance, WPF has many advantages.

Rapid Application Development

One of the reasons WPF continues to be popular, especially in enterprise and industries is the fact you can click File -> New Project in Visual Studio, write an app, compile it, and deploy it by copying to a shared drive or distribute via clickonce installer. It’s fast & easy.

Compared to the tech-stack of JavaScript apps where you will need to learn React, Redux, Typescript, HTMl, CSS, Node, Npm, REST, Websockets, a server platform, database platform, plus deploy your application to an environment before it’s available to others, it’s clear to see why rapid prototyping or building of internal tools tends to favour simpler alternatives such as WPF.

Mature Toolchain

Tools such as Visual Studio provide a visual designer, hot-reload, visual as well as code debugging.

Extensions like Resharper, NUnit or MSTest allow creating testable applications, supporting Test-Driven-Development (TDD).

Finally, third party tools and a rich ecosystem of third party free or paid components & libraries such as charts, graphs, datagrids on NuGet enhance the development experience further.

C# is a Great Programming Language

With it’s dependence on C# .NET it is possible to create powerful multi-threaded thick-client or thin-client applications in WPF, with best practices in software (such as dependency injection, model-view-view-model or MVVM patterns).

With 64-bit memory addressing in C#, near optimal performance and multi-threading you can build complex and high performing applications in WPF.

Build Complex & High Performance Desktop Apps

WPF continues to benefit from advancements in the evolution of .NET – allowing client / server applications with Azure Functions (Microsoft’s equivalent to AWS) to be written in the same language. Performance techniques like SIMD and vectorisation are now available in C#. Multi-threading and async/await as we mentioned before, plus C++ interop if you need to integrate to legacy code or high performance code.

Many users in the scientific, engineering, medical, automotive, motorsports or aerospace industries cannot sacrifice performance, and WPF gives you just that – full access to low level routines which will utilise the most from your CPU / GPU and disk.

How Popular is WPF in 2024?

In 2024, WPF continues to be popular for enterprise software development, with some estimates saying there are a half a million to one million actively developed applications worldwide.

Despite rumours of WPF’s untimely demise, the data shows a different story.

Below are a few data-points talking about the current state of the platform which shed some light on it’s future.

WPF Activity on Github

WPF was partially open sourced by Microsoft in 2018 (ii) , and as of today it’s GitHub repository has 6,700 Github stars, 1,100 forks, 142 contributors and over 5,200 commits spanning a 5 year period.

There are active projects such as Avalonia XPF (iii) which are looking to make WPF into a cross-platform framework. More on this below.

Strong support from the community as well as Microsoft means it’s likely that WPF will be here for many years to come.

Google Trend Searches for WPF vs. WinUI, MAUI

Google Trends (i) is a great tool to estimate the relative popularity of something worldwide and see the search trends over time. On it’s own, in a 5-year time period, there is a slight decline in searches for WPF. However, when compared against search trends for competing platforms such as WinUI, MAUI (Microsoft), Avalonia and Windows Forms, WPF continues to be dominant and show relative strength.

Activity for Nuget Packages

Nuget is the package manager for C# libraries including WPF. You can estimate the popularity of WPF vs. other similar frameworks by looking at download trends of popular libraries.

WPF Toolkit: a collection of free open source controls on WPF such as a DataGrid, ColorPicker and Charts has almost 12 million downloads (iv) , and continues to uptrend.

Prism : a popular dependency injection framework has libraries for WPF, Windows (UWP), MAUI and Uno. You can see in the download trends (v) , Prism.WPF outstrips all the others by a large margin.

Oxyplot : an open source charting library has implementations for WPF, Windows Forms and Windows (UWP / WinUI). Also here WPF leads the crowd and has the largest number of downloads by all

SciChart:  provides a high performance WPF Chart Control which was first released in 2012. On NuGet the package has reached 700,000 downloads, and continues to uptrend strongly – quite a lot for a closed-source commercial library!

Popularity in Enterprise

In 2024, WPF continues to be popular for enterprise software development, with over some estimates showing a half a million to one million actively developed applications and two million developers worldwide.

While not much chatter or excitement for what is no longer a new technology, WPF still has a lot of demand in internal and business-critical applications.

Anecdotally, several recent posters on a reddit topic about the future of WPF (vii) commented very positive things about the framework:

Basically it is a lot more popular than it appears on the outside. WPF is kind of like Cobol. You won’t see many posts about it, but it’s used quite a lot in enterprise and financial institutions for internal applications and tools.

We use it a lot in the automation industry – and after years of using it I like it. We have to live with supporting old WinForms here. It is ok but I like WPF more. WPF is in between the old WinForms and currently still buggy MAUI for me (personally)…

WPF here too, we routinely evaluate alternatives but have never found something that is absolutely better in every way given our requirements.

I’ve been developing WPF desktop applications for the last ten years. I can say that WPF is more popular within “traditional” industries like the banking, medical and defence . So if you see yourself in one of those industries WPF (with MVVM) is a good choice.

Since 2020, I’ve worked on a massive WPF project. If you need to do native windows desktop development, WPF is the best choice in my opinion .

What’s the Future of WPF?

As well as alternative Xaml / C# frameworks, there are some exciting developments which may one day become the future of WPF. One of them is Avalonia’s XPF (iii) . Brought to you by the Avalonia team, this is a 100% compatible replacement for WPF’s low level code which runs entirely on Linux and macOS. Users have reported being able to re-target a WPF application using Avalonia XPF in minutes and compile / deploy to macOS & Linux.

Mobile (iOS / Android) and web browser support is on the roadmap from the XPF team, meaning one day we could see a truly cross-platform version of WPF.

Cross-platform may be low on many enterprise WPF developers wish-lists however being able to port applications to Linux just be retargetting / recompiling is a huge value-add for organisations that require the highest possible performance, or OEM deployments into embedded systems which require Linux. Plus, by replacing the legacy DirectX9 renderer with OpenGL / Vulkan, Avalonia XPF conveys several advantages and shows a positive evolution in WPF.

Below here’s a prototype showing SciChart WPF running on Linux under Avalonia XPF. Our team has been actively investigating this and cross-compiling our C++ engine to Linux, abstracting all DirectX calls to OpenGL. We hope to make an announcement soon that SciChart will be available on Linux & macOS under XPF, allowing to developers of embedded systems, OEM applications and performance-heavy scientific and medical applications to target this platform.

Is WPF Dead?

Far from being dead, we believe WPF will be here for years to come. Here are the key reasons why:

• WPF has stood the test of time and is still active in enterprise software development 18 years after first release
• It continues to be compatible with the latest versions of Windows and no sign this will change.
• WPF is now open source, and has an active Github repository with hundreds of contributors, thousands of stars
• Google Trends and NuGet data show WPF packages continues to outpace alternatives in the C# / XAML space such as MAUI / WinUI
• Exciting projects such as Avalonia XPF extend the lifespan of existing WPF apps, allowing them to target multi platforms such as macOS and Linux and in future, iOS / Android / Browser

Finally, Our Roadmap

We are making steps now to make the SciChart library platform agnostic and as a first step, will be releasing a version of SciChart to support Avalonia XPF soon.

This will be a drop-in replacement, allowing applications which used SciChart WPF to ‘Just Work’ on Linux or macOS without code changes. We’re excited about this step in our evolution as a large proportion of our customers build for embedded devices, OEM systems or require the highest possible performance – which Linux helps to provide.

From a commercial point of view we are personally yet to see the demand for platforms such as WinUI or MAUI to match or replace WPF, however we are monitoring the situation closely. We are considering ways to make our technology available to more C# / XAML frameworks.

As a whole, we continued to be excited about XAML / C# based frameworks. We see a bright future in scientific, engineering and financial software which require the highest possible performance and will be continuing to invest in them.

Contact us share your opinion We’d love to hear from you on this topic. If you are a working for a commercial entity which would like to see SciChart on any of the alternative frameworks listed above, get in touch as we’d love to hear your opinion! CONTACT US

References in this article

• Google Trends WPF vs. MAUI vs. WinUI vs. UWP 🔗
• WPF Github Repository 🔗
• Avalonia XPF 🔗
• Nuget Trends for WPF Toolkit 🔗
• NuGet Trends for Prism.WPF vs Uno vs MAUI vs Windows 🔗
• NuGet Trends for OxyPlot WPF vs. WinForms vs. Windows 🔗
• Reddit thread – how popular is WPF in Enterprise Software Development 🔗

One comment

Valuable article, Andrew. It accords very much with my own experience. WPF attracts little excitement because no-one (including Microsoft) is trying to sell it. But at the the top end, where you need intricate and precise user interfaces, there is nothing to beat it on a Windows platform.

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Exploring the Future Features of WPF in 2024

As we stand on the cusp of a new era in software development, the future of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) holds exciting promises and innovations. WPF, a stalwart in creating rich desktop applications, is gearing up for a transformative journey in 2024. In this article, we delve into the anticipated features that will shape the landscape of WPF development, offering developers and businesses a glimpse into what lies ahead.

Enhanced Performance for Seamless Experiences

One of the primary expectations for WPF in 2024 is a significant boost in performance. With the ever-increasing demand for smoother and more responsive applications, developers are eagerly awaiting improvements in rendering speeds and overall efficiency. The future iteration of WPF is anticipated to introduce optimizations that minimize lag and enhance the user experience, making it a more compelling choice for high-performance applications.

Adaptive UI for Diverse Platforms

As the digital ecosystem continues to diversify, developers are increasingly tasked with creating applications that seamlessly adapt to various devices and platforms. WPF is expected to address this need by incorporating features that enable the creation of adaptive user interfaces. Imagine a single codebase that effortlessly adjusts its layout and design to suit both desktop and mobile environments. The future of WPF development may well bring us closer to this reality, streamlining the process of building cross-platform applications.

Incorporating AI for Intelligent User Experiences

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer confined to the realms of science fiction; it is a tangible force driving innovation in software development. WPF is poised to leverage the power of AI to enhance user experiences. From predictive analytics to intelligent recommendations, the integration of AI into WPF applications in 2024 could open up new possibilities for developers to create more personalized and intuitive interfaces.

Modernized Design Tools for Streamlined Workflows

In the fast-paced world of software development, efficiency is paramount. WPF in 2024 is expected to introduce modernized design tools that streamline the development workflow. From enhanced visual designers to improved debugging capabilities, these tools aim to empower developers to create sophisticated applications with greater ease. The goal is to reduce development time without compromising the quality of the end product, making WPF an even more attractive choice for developers.

Expanded Support for 3D Graphics and Animation

The demand for visually stunning and immersive applications is on the rise. In response, WPF is anticipated to expand its support for 3D graphics and animation in 2024. This could enable developers to create more engaging user interfaces, incorporating lifelike animations and three-dimensional elements. Such enhancements not only cater to the aesthetic preferences of users but also open up new avenues for applications in industries such as gaming, simulation, and virtual reality.

Security Reinforcements for Data Protection

In an era where data security is a top priority, WPF is likely to introduce features aimed at reinforcing the security of applications. From encrypted communication protocols to advanced authentication mechanisms, the future of WPF development may see a heightened focus on safeguarding user data. Developers can expect tools and libraries that make it easier to implement robust security measures, ensuring that WPF applications meet the highest standards of data protection.

Cross-Platform Compatibility with .NET MAUI Integration

With the advent of .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI), the .NET ecosystem is taking a significant step towards unified cross-platform development. In 2024, WPF is expected to integrate more seamlessly with .NET MAUI, allowing developers to leverage their existing skills to build applications that run on a variety of platforms. This integration could lead to a more cohesive development experience, enabling developers to target multiple platforms with a shared codebase.

Community Collaboration through Open-Source Initiatives

The strength of any development framework lies in its community support. WPF’s journey in 2024 is likely to involve increased collaboration through open-source initiatives. By fostering a vibrant community, WPF can benefit from diverse perspectives, rapid issue resolution, and the contribution of valuable extensions and plugins. This collaborative approach ensures that WPF remains a dynamic and evolving framework that caters to the ever-changing needs of developers.

As we peer into the future of WPF development in 2024, the landscape appears promising and innovative. Enhanced performance, adaptive UI, AI integration, modernized design tools, expanded 3D graphics support, fortified security measures, cross-platform compatibility, and community collaboration are key aspects shaping the evolution of WPF. Developers can look forward to a toolkit that not only meets contemporary demands but also anticipates future trends, ensuring that WPF remains a relevant and powerful choice for creating compelling desktop applications. The journey into 2024 is an exciting one for WPF enthusiasts, filled with the potential to redefine the way we approach and experience application development.

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Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) to get modernized, soon match Windows 11 styles

The company has recently updated its roadmap page.

published on February 20, 2024

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• It’s been a hot while since Microsoft updated the look and feel WPF.
• A roadmap update says that Windows 11’s signature design elements are coming.
• Besides, nullability annotations will also be implemented.

It’s been a hot while since Microsoft updated the look and feel of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), its popular open-source app framework in Windows operating systems.

As per  their GitHub page  of what lies ahead in 2024 for .NET 9.0, the Redmond tech giant is revamping WPF styles to align with Windows 11, making your apps blend seamlessly into the latest OS. The last stable build of WPF rolled out back in November last year. 

Windows 11’s  signature design elements , such as rounded corners, updated color schemes, and enhanced snap layout functionality, will soon be supported. Additionally, nullability annotations will be implemented to improve code quality within the WPF codebase and applications developed using it.

In its own words, “Long-term vision for modernization of WPF contains investments like support for nullability annotations, trimming and NativeAOT support, DirectX upgrades and integration of newer .NET features and abstractions.”

Microsoft rolled out the first  .NET 9.0 preview build  not too long ago, promising easier access to OpenAI and other AI models.

Continuing on Microsoft’s all-out push for cloud adoption, Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code users will also benefit from new features introduced through the .NET Aspire initiative.

Of course, as expected, this update also includes essential performance and accessibility revampings. Developers will soon benefit from improved accessibility support for WPF controls, as well as benchmarking and optimization tools for enhancing the framework’s compatibility across various devices.

You can check out everything Microsoft has in mind for 2024 on the WPF Roadmap page on  GitHub .

Tech Reporter

Rafly is a reporter with years of journalistic experience, ranging from technology, business, social, and culture. Currently reporting news on Microsoft-related products, tech, and AI on Windows Report and MSPowerUser. Got a tip? Send it to [email protected] .

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• Is WPF Dead

Is WPF Dead in 2021? What Are The Alternatives

It was in 2006 that Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) was released with .NET framework 3.0. Over the years it got improved and it is still now in the market in 2021. With more than a decade passed by, it now raises a question is WPF dead?

Contact us for WPF development

What is WPF?

WPF is a very rich UI framework which is used by developers to build Windows desktop applications. It comes with built-in support for graphics, resources, data binding and much other. It makes use of Extensible Markup Language to define views and it does it in a declarative way.

WPF is Open Source

Microsoft open-sourced WPF, WinForms and WinUI on the same day it planned to announce the Preview 1 of .NET Core 3.0. Open source is nothing but an arrangement where the community can contribute towards the technology in the form of bug fixes and features. Microsoft has proved to be on the side of open source with this approach and by open sourcing WPF it has indicated that it cares about its future. The existing WPF implementation to GitHub does not have any sources published from Microsoft but it has reacted to a repository there in which is named as WPF for .NET Core. This clearly means that the codebase in there, targets the .NET Core platform.

Microsoft Roadmap For 2021

The Microsoft has come up with a roadmap for WPF in 2021 and it is stating equality in terms of performance and function compared to . NET Framework and the goals for the same are set with the release of .NET Code 3.0. The roadmap has plans which focus on work to be done so as to ensure all the components are made available. For the same, they are working on to validate the pull requests from the community and merge it.

The Impact of .NET Core

The Microsoft new release of .NET Core 3.0 is focused on adding WPF support to the new generation of .NET. This update will offer you an opportunity where you can have your application with a specific version of the .NET framework instead of relying on the version which is present on the devices of your customers.

Now this is a big thing coming from Microsoft where it is making a move from WPF to .NET Core. This move clearly explains that Microsoft sees a future in WPF and considers it as a UI framework for the .NET platform. Microsoft has really invested a lot in WPF by making it open source and making it work on .NET Core.

One of the clear benefits of this move is that if you want to build a WPF application , you no longer have to stay within the .NET framework. This means like the choices backend developers had for frontend technologies since .NET core 1.0, now you have the same for WPF application development .

WPF applications run only on Windows as it makes use of a lot of Windows-specific features. This works the same for WPF applications that work on .NET core platform. As .NET core is better known for cross-platform framework , it is somewhat unintuitive. But if you look at the history of WPF, you will understand that things make sense here.

About The Existing Applications

When it comes to existing applications we have a doubt regarding whether we need to move it to the .NET core or not. It is not necessary rather a choice. As per the suggestion of Microsoft, new projects should be built on the newly formed .NET Core platform. Here the existing legacy apps which are not important for the business and are in the maintenance mode can be kept. The (full) .NET framework will still be made available to the developers to use.

Advantages of .NET Core For Desktop Development

Your applications will perform well as they run on the newest .NET technology which has been built from the scratch. The .NET Core does not possess some of the legacy things which could not be removed from the (full) .NET framework. This all makes it even more efficient.

By using different .NET Core versions, you can run your applications alongside one another. This way, your application becomes independent of the framework of .NET, which is either installed on your or your customer’s device.

The new features in the Visual Studio which were developed for the applications that are making use of the .NET Core platform, can be accessed this way for your SDKs, tools and new project file format.

Here you can build applications using less efforts and it will eventually save you a lot of time and money. When you are looking for continuous delivery and continuous integration, this especially works well.

Alternatives to WPF

There is a community which is creating alternatives for the .NET Core platforms. Some of the alternatives to WPF are:

• Platform Uno

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InfoQ Homepage Presentations Windows Presentation Foundation: The Future of Windows

Windows Presentation Foundation: The Future of Windows

Windows Presentation Foundation is a fundamental shift from how interactive applications have previously worked in Windows. In this session, Ian Griffiths shows key features of WPF such as XAML, composition, layout, animation, and data binding. Moreover, we will examine the need for WPF, showing both how and why it differs so radically from the classic Win32 approach.

Ian is a C# MVP, freelance software developer and consultant. He specializes in digital imaging applications, mainly broadcast video and medical imaging systems. Ian is also an instructor and course author for Pluralsight, and co-author of two books: .NET Windows Forms in a Nutshell and Mastering Visual Studio .NET, both by O'Reilly.

About the conference

JAOO is the premier European developer conference on software technology, methods and best practices. The conference presents in-depth presentations and tutorials by researchers, engineers and trend-setters in software engineering and technology.

Recorded at:

Apr 26, 2007

Ian Griffiths

This content is in the Microsoft topic

Related topics:.

• Development
• JAOO Conference
• Rich Client / Desktop

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The Impact of Windows Presentation Foundation, Apollo, and Flex

I had a good phone call yesterday with Michael Wallent, the General Manager of the WinFX team at Microsoft. I came away from the call with a lot more information about Windows Presentation Foundation and some deeper understanding of how Rich Internet Applications are going to evolve.  The one thing to keep in mind during this conversation is that these technologies are still being worked on and the final products are still unknowns. With WPF out sometime next year, Flex 2 in June, and Apollo also sometime next year, talking about these as solutions may seem a bit premature. It's a lot like trying to pick the final score of the NCAA Champion Basketball game for the bracket tie breaker: It's fun to predict, and you can make some educated guesses, but if you get it right it was more luck than skill. With that, let's dive in.

After getting a chance to talk with Michael and see some of the Windows Presentation Foundation examples out there, it's clear that if they can deliver on their goals, WPF is going to be a huge draw for developers. Because of the hardware acceleration built in, the 3D interfaces, and the security model they've put together, people are going to create revolutionary applications. WPF is going to empower usability experts and designers with a huge voice in application development. I've drilled it over and over again, but the sophisticated user interfaces that RIAs are going to deliver will be an evolutionary step in software. WPF is heavily focused on giving designers and developers the tools to build this software evolution.

The drawback to this kind of power is that it won't be cross-platform. WPF/E is not going to be WPF for other platforms. It will certainly provide some good functionality: allowing easy cross-platform streaming of Windows Media files and an interface tied closely with WPF, but it will lack the more impressive features of WPF. While you'll be able to build very intense applications with WPF, WPF/E won't give you a way to deploy those applications anywhere. Adobe's play in this is Flex 2 and Apollo.

So where does this leave us? If you've been following me, you know that I'm a huge proponent of applications that run in a level above the OS and independently of the browser. The internet is cross platform and there is no reason why software shouldn't be. However, Microsoft still has a 90% market share in the desktop market, which is a big number. While WPF will require a download for Windows XP users, it's embedded in Vista and will have a big slice of the market for developers looking at ways to build their applications. The caveat is that what makes RIAs so compelling is the ability to deploy on devices as well as regular PCs. Combine that with the fact that Linux share is rising in Asia and Apple has released Boot Camp as a carrot tempting users to try Mac OS, and in years to come cross-platform will become more important for developers.

While I was disappointed to hear that Microsoft will not be truly supporting cross platform RIAs, after talking to Michael, I understand their reasoning. They have the ability to tie into the strengths of Vista and create a better user experience. How will this affect developers? In two big ways.

First, RIAs that are created for the enterprise will be built in WPF. WPF will allow "streaming" of applications from a central server (or a cluster of servers), which is a big draw for large companies. Combine that with a very robust security model and WPF will give enterprise level developers immense control and high scalability. I can see a lot of data intensive companies using the UI features of WPF to build unique and complex ways to manipulate that data.

On the other side of the coin, the smaller developers, and developers who want as broad a user base as possible, will flock to technologies like Flex 2 and Apollo. The Flash Platform gives developers the canvas to create RIAs that are high on features and high on usability, but with the significant boost of operating system freedom. When Apollo comes to fruition, the idea of building powerful desktop applications with Flash is very reasonable. There will no doubt be performance differences between WPF and Apollo, with WPF edging out Apollo, but if you want your desktop application to run on Linux as well as Windows, Apollo looks enticing.

We are seeing the web deliver great applications. The technologies on the horizon will take that to the next level. A renewed focus on user interface, the ability to store and manipulate data offline, and the convergence with multimedia will be marquee parts of next generation software. Designers and developers are going to connect in ways that will make software fun. The internet makes it easy to build and deploy these applications. In the long term, Microsoft's strategy has to be cross-platform support. The corporate world is a good revenue stream, but it's the smaller, more nimble development shops that drive innovation. Eventually, innovation is going to catch up to what Microsoft can provide. RIAs will make operating systems an afterthought, and eventually the corporate world will follow suit. In the end, markets adopt what works best, and cross-platform will be it.

Samsung will give you a free 65-inch 4K TV right now - see if you qualify

Google just launched a faster, more efficient chrome browser for windows, but there's a catch, i streamed with logitech's mevo core camera and it nearly beat out my $3,600 canon.

Windows Presentation Foundation

The Windows Presentation Foundation (or WPF), formerly code named Avalon, is the graphical subsystem feature of the .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly called WinFX) and is directly related to XAML. It is pre-installed in Vista, the latest version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. WPF is also available for installation on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003. It provides a consistent programming model for building applications and provides a clear separation between the UI and the business logic. A WPF application can be deployed on the desktop or hosted in a web browser. It also enables richer control, design, and development of the visual aspects of Windows programs. It aims to unify a host of application services: user interface, 2D and 3D drawing, fixed and adaptive documents, vector graphics, raster graphics, animation, data binding, audio and video.

WPF/E is a subset of WPF, and stands for "Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere". It is basically a mobile version of WPF, based on XAML and Javascript. 3D features are not included, but XPS, vector-based drawing, and hardware acceleration, are. Wikipedia

This site was created in 2006. It was dedicated to everything Windows Presentation Foundation. Andrew Whiddettt (CTO), Victor Gaudioso and John Woo are WPF Engineers who helped guide those so inclined to learn WPF via articles, blogs, downloads and tutorials. Each of these engineers had their own blog.

An Update: I wonder how these three engineers would have reacted to the news that Zendesk was going to kill its Windows Phone app in 2017. I work for a company that offers customized help desk support to Zendesk clients. Our phones were ringing like crazy when this announcement was first made. Zendesk is a global provider of customer service software. They operate in 150 markets. In 2012 the company launched its Windows Phone app in the Market. However in November 2016 Zendesk announced that it was going to end support for its Windows Phone app and the app would only receive any emergency maintenance updates after Dec 31st 2016. Arggg!!! went our clients. In 2017 we had to explain to clients that due to the low usage of its Windows Phone app, Zendesk was just going to kill it. The app was removed from the Windows Store completely in April 2017 and was no longer be available for download for Windows Phone users. It was understandable if Zendesk didn't have enough users to justify making the proper updates and support. We told customers that Zendesk recommended they switch to an iOS or Android OS platform to keep enjoying the features of its Zendesk App. We also offered other work-a-rounds, but some clients were initially very unhappy. I was burned out by the end of that week. My one consolation was that the company just happened to be upgrading our offices and the reception area that same week with Italian modern furniture that was really sleek and cool. The furniture company, room service 360°, they ordered from is located in Philadelphia. I've driven by it many times but never associated it with business furniture. Turns out room service 360° offers stunning modern furniture from many Italian brands among others, for both the home and office. The makeover of the company was impressive and had a very positive impact on the employees moral. And the feedback from both our old and new customers was irrefutable: They loved the new look. Thank you management.

Now it's time to hit the road and drive home. I always like getting home. My affectionate Alaskan Malamute, Nanette, greets me at the door, ready to have some fun. We have a routine that includes a three-mile run and playing frisbee, a game she loves. Nanette is surprisingly agile for such a large dog, and catching that frisbee is her favorite part. It's a good thing I have several acres of land for her to use up all her energy before we go in for the night. Speaking of hobbies and outdoor activities, I recently got into golf, inspired by the themes of this year's Forum, which emphasized wellness and personal growth. Just last week, I picked up a Tour Edge golf club , a brand recommended by a friend. This club has been a fantastic addition to my leisure time, providing a great way to relax and improve my game. I'm planning to spend more time at the local golf course, honing my skills and enjoying the open spaces, much like Nanette enjoys her time outdoors. This evening, after our run and frisbee game, I might even practice a few swings in the backyard. It's going to be a good evening, indeed. Oh yes.

The selected content below taken from Victor Gaudioso’s blog posts.

June 1, 2011

The LASLUG Raffle Chooser App has been Published in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace

Victor @ 1:57 pm

If you attended our May 25, 2011 Los Angeles Silverlight Usergroup (LASLUG) meeting then you saw Kim S (LASLUG Special Event Coordinator) use the custom built Raffle Chooser Windows Phone 7 Application to choose the Winning Raffle Tickets.

Well, I figured that this could be a handy tool for our other .NET Usergroups such as LA C# Usergroup or even our friends at SoCal Code Camp ran by Woody

Pewitt (@woodyp on Twitter) as I think they all hold raffles as well. So I published it on the Zune Marketplace.  It is under the Social Category and is FREE!

You can Install the Raffle Chooser app directly from here: http://tinyurl.com/4xhcltr

If  you would like the source code feel free to email me at victorg at laslug dot com.

Thanks!  Victor

April 29, 2011

The Los Angeles Silverlight Usergroup (LASLUG) is Growing by Leaps & Bounds – State of the Usergroup

— Victor @ 12:07 am

Hello LASLUGers!

Today we had an occurrence that sets us apart as a premier .NET Usergroup;  today we hit the BIG TIME: Telerik has signed on to become a proud sponsor  of the Los Angeles Silverlight Usergroup.  In their own words, Telerik’s Emily Parker writes “ (we) provide 1 Telerik Ultimate Collection valued at $1999/month. This license is our largest bundle so it includes tons of software – check them out here: www.telerik.com/purchase.  I know you said other’s do two licenses/month but this license is a  huge bundle which always goes over well.  We send a demo CD with the license codes on them so your winners can just walk away with this and they are all set! “  

 Are they awesome or what? 

 Mission Statement:

To provide the local Los Aneles .NET community (with an emphasis on Silverlight & WPF) with the finest speakers that the planent has to offer.  Further, we pledge not to ever charge any of our members any money for this service.  While most other usergroups are free to attend they tend to charge for the raffles whereby they give away prizes.  We not only offer free gourmet pizza, beer, softdrinks and deserts we offer free prizes.  It is our goal to provide every member in attendence with a free prize be it a small prize such as a DevExpress tee-shirt, or a Microsoft Flash drive to something more significant such as an Apress book on how to do game programing for Windows Phone 7 to something very expensive such as Telerik’s Ultimate Silverlight Software Collection (a $1999.00 value).  Further, we promise to update our venues to make it easier for some members to attend one month and then easier for other members to attend another month.  We also feel this keep the group fresh and reduces the chance of them becoming bored with LASLUG meetings.  Finally, we have commited to our sponsors to help them add to their customer base by touting the positive aspects of their products and by encouraging our members to use their decision-making power at their places of employment to employ these books and tools if they enjoy the products we give to them as prizes. We also promise our sponsors high-visibility on our website (www.laslug.com) as well as in our meetings.

So Wed May 25th is the tentative date for our next  LASLUG  meeting and the first meeting we will be giving away  Software  from:

1.  Telerik  (one copy of Ultimate Collection – Value: $1999.00);

2.  DevExpress  (two copies of Silverlight Controls for Silverlight – Value: $799.99 (times two));

3.  Syncfusion  (two copies of Essential Studio Enterprise Edition – Value: $1,995.00 (times two));

4.  VIBlend  (VIBlend WPF Controls package – Value: $349.000), (VIBlend Silverlight Controls package – Value: $499.00).

We will also be giving away books:

1.  Apress  - Four titles to be determined – Approximate Value: $50.00 (times four));

2.  FreindsOfEd -  One title, two copies - Expression Blend 4 with Silverlight – Value: $49.00 (times two));

3.  Safari Books Online  (10 day free trial and 20% off with purchase of a year subscription).

We will also have swag from:

1. Mircosoft

2. DevExpress

3. Syncfusion

This comes out to a total of  $9,283 .  So by the time the meeting takes place I expect the prizes to be valued at  well over $10,000 .

And this is just as of right now…we are currently in talks with  O’reilly, Manning, Anheuser-Busch, New Belgium Brewers  and a few others.

So look for email blasts from me and the management team with regards to new sponsorship and meeting details.  Once you get the meeting announcement please secure your spot  ASAP  as space is limited and I think that will all of these new  prizes ,  swag ,  gourmet pizza  and  beer  the meeting is going to fill up  fast!  

October 2, 2010

An Amazing Review of my new Silverlight 4 Book

—  Victor @ 12:26 am

A reader named Peter Henry wrote an awesome review of my new Silverlight 4 book on his blog.  Its funny, the way he describes my writing style is EXACTLY what I was shooting for;  that is, as if I were right over your shoulder telling you step by step how to develop in Silverlight using Blend and Visual Studio.  Here is his review, you can also read it here: http://www.pchenry.com/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/343/Default.aspx

A few weeks ago, I saw a message on Twitter asking people to reply to get a free book.  Now, usually I disregard those emails/phone calls/unsolicited advancements with utter and complete contempt (too polite? LOL) but this time around I thought I might read this a bit further.  

The posting was from Simon Yu from apress.com, he was asking for reviewers for an upcoming Expression Blend book.  Interesting.  I was familiar with the previous book (Expression Blend 3) since Sylvain had bought one last year and I was kind of envious he was learning WPF and Expression Blend with this book.  Ya, it looked that impressive when I leafed through it.

But then……..life got busy, work got busy…..life just happened…..you probably know what I mean right?  Well, fast forward to Simon’s posting and I thought, eeehhhhh……what’s the worst that can happen?  Oh ya, he could be bogus and I get spammed forever?  AAAAAHHHHH let’s try it out, could be interesting?

As I would say to Bert lately, “long story short”, I got the book in the mail (thank you very much Simon!) and I have to tell ya, WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!  VERY COOL!  I guess in the last year, I’ve kind of gotten a bit gun-shy with the whole WPF/XAML/Blend thing.  Why?  Not quite sure why actually…..just that there’s A LOT to bite off to get something done.  Layout managers, data binding, POCOs or EF, WCF or web services, resources, triggers, behaviours, then there’s the whole XAML and Blend thing…..maybe you’re where I am?  You feeling a bit OVERWHELMED with all that?

Well, this is where this book comes into play.  I said to myself, with WP7 coming out, I’m getting on that band wagon and I’m going to do WPF this time!  Yes siree Bob!  Who’s Bob?  I don’t know, that’s the expression!  Anyways, here are my first impressions!

• Who’ the book aimed at?  People like me!  COOL!
• It’s NOT 800 pages!
• It reads less like MSDN and more like a book that keeps you excited!  Sorry MSDN, no slight against you, when I goto you, I want info HERE AND NOW, nothing pretty, nothing fancy, but when I’m reading about something brand new, I need a bit of spoon feeding and a bit of excitement to keep me interested.
• “LOTS of pretty pictures!”  Which is good for a visual designer tool that Blend is!  Ironic eh?  Lots of sites, even books don’t have pictures, WTF?  The HUGE benefit of pictures is I can see IMMEDIATELY when I’m begining to deviate away from the lesson and starting to get lost.  Not here!
• Juicy info is had right away, not half way through the book.  Ever read a Tom Clancy book?  Doesn’t matter which one, they ALL, only get interesting half way through.  Boooooooring!  Not with this book!
• Yes, I did get the book for free, but NO I’m not biased nor inclined to give this book a good rating just because of that.  I’m cheap, but I’m also not looking to make my living with book reviews.  I have ONE objective with this book, to learn Blend!
• And my last, first impression, which is the most important point in this post, Victor’s writing feels COMPLETELY interactive and dynamic.  Think about it, it’s a book written months ago, and it STILL feels like a conversation with him right there!  What do I mean?  He does this a lot and I love it…..he explains something, and I’m thinking…but, but but……then in the very next sentence he answers my very same question in my head.  Ya, and he does that continuously.  I’ve done good and bad training courses before, this guy writes this book like a beautiful training course.  I’m 50pgs into it and have HUGE expectations now for him to continue doing his “set’em up and knock’em down” style of teaching!

So, there you have it, my first impressions about this new book from Victor Gaudioso.  Keep your eyes peeled on this blog for a followup blog with my end of book review.  Now it’s time to grab a coffee and get coding (well, reading and coding that is LOL).

Thanks so much Peter!  Victor

May 26, 2010

New Speaking Event: Microsoft Book Signing/Silverlight 4 Presentation

— Victor @ 11:45 am

On Saturday June 19th, 2010 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm (PST) I will be signing copies of my latest book Foundation Blend 3 with Silverlight and presenting/demoing the new features of Silverlight 4 at the Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo, California!

Join me as I show how to use the new Webcam and COM APIs, show how to build Out-Of-Browser (OOB) Silverlight applications and talk about Sketchflow Prototyping with Silverlight.

There will be plenty of prizes and give-aways from our sponsors.  Microsoft will be giving away copies of the Expression Blend Suite, Apress will be giving away some of its most popular book titles based on .NET technologies and finally DevExpress will be giving away copies of its popular Silverlight Tools.

Join us for an evening of book signing, food and drinks, presentations and everything Silverlight!  attendance is free but RSVP as space is limited. 

See you there!

April 6, 2010

My Microsoft MVP Award!

— Victor @ 2:43 pm

My MVP Award just came in the mail and it did not disappoint.  There was a really nice plaque, a glass award, an MVP ID card and an MVP pin. Take a look at the video of me opening my award!

March 5, 2010

An Interesting Journey with a Man Named Ted

— Victor @ 8:24 am

As you probably know,  I am very serious and passionate about my love for Silverlight and Blend; I love the technology and possess a burning passion for teaching it.  If any of you know me you know full well that if you ask me for help I will do all I can to help you understand this medium and to be productive in it. 

As you also know I write books on Blend and Silverlight; I do so for a couple of reasons:

First, I do it to help those interested to learn this platform.  Silverlight and Blend are amazingly easy to use once you know how.  Sadly learning how can be difficult.  To facilitate the ease of learning this medium I decided to write books under the Apress/Friends of Ed flagship  Foundation  series.  I have two books already published and currentlyI am writing my third on SL 4/Blend. 

The second reason I write books is so that I have creditability as a bonafide  SL/Blend expert.  That being the case people will listen to my teachings and when I raise issues to my friends over at MSFT I get some very good responses. 

What I  DON”T  write these books for is money; it is all about the passion I possess.  To be honest, I don’t make a whole lot of money writing these books; if you were to break it down I probably end up making less than $5.00 per hour. 

So, whenever I receive a new review on Amazon I am quick to read it in hopes to understand how the public feels about my publication and how I can improve my next book.  As an example of this, I have my book’s Amazon link on my smart phone’s desktop. I click it at  least  once per day to look for new comments. 

The comments thus far have been quite positive (currently the book has 4 out of 5 stars).  So, whenever I get a negative comment my heart sinks and I am deeply saddend and concerned. 

As it happens just such a comment came down the pike a few days ago. In this review a man named Ted stated that there is entirely too much code in my book and being that it is a Blend book this should not be the case. 

While this review did hurt my feelings I had to admit the guy had a valid point.  But to be sure I grabbed a copy of my book and started to thumb through it and this validated what he had stated: there was in fact too much code for a Blend book.  So, I commented back and told Ted that his comment “ cut me to the core ” and that he did in fact have a valid point.  I apologized and promised that I would do better on my new book slated to come out this summer. 

Ted quickly responded and was a little apologetic that he had hurt my feelings but stuck by his point. He accepted my ap0logy and said that he looked forward to my next book.  But I didn’t feel that I had done enough for Ted.  Sure I had helped him understand that there are real people behind these books that have real feelings but what had I done to  help him?  This was a reader that put his faith in me to help them learn Silverlight and Blend and I had left him wandering aimlessly in the woods.  Not cool! What to do?

So, I decided that Ted would be one of those readers that is smart enough not to need to be guided through a narrative on how to learn Silverlight  and Blend.  After some thought it hit me that Ted is one of those that would benefit from a “ take one from column A and one from column B ” kind of learning regime. 

With that, I pointed Ted at my  personal blog where I have about 30-40 free Silverlight video tutorials.  They range from “ how to build a chrome button in Blend”  to “ how to de-serialize XML into native Silverlight objects .”

The danger of pointing a Silverlight newcomer to these videos is there is no structure, the reader is free to run wild and possibly tutorialize themselves into total confusion. 

Which, by the way I think my beginner books are great:  I take your hand at the very beginning and then walk you through, step by step how I think you should learn Silverlight and Blend and then when I think you are ready I let your hand go and tell you to now go forth and learn, you are ready.

So, this morning I received an email from a very excited and happy Ted telling me that my videos are what he has been looking for since he started this mission to learn Silverlight/Blend some 15 days ago.  Further, he was so satisfied he was compelled to post a comment entitied  “Must Watch – Must Read Resources for Blend!”  on the Microsoft Expression website, found  Below are a couple of excerpts from his post:

“…He explained things I had not seen in any help files or any other videos in 14 days of research.  You might be tempted to skip the first video about the UI, don’t do it!  One of the HUGE keys to understanding Blend is understanding the interface….”

“…Trust me, if you watch Victor’s videos, you will have about 50% fewer questions on how to do things in Blend.  If you work through the self paced tutorial, you will have another 50% reduction.  Just think, you will actually be able to do something in Blend, not wait for answers here, and when you DO have a question, it will probably be code related or something pretty esoteric that these experts can really sink their teeth into!…”

So now I have fulfilled my goal of helping one more person who wants to learn Silverlight and Blend.  And along the way, I discovered a way to make my new book better and even made a friend along the way.  Thanks Ted, my friend.

November 26, 2009

A Rough Draft of my New Silverlight 4 Book (due out in 2010)

— Victor @ 12:52 pm

Apress/Friends of Ed has engaged me to write a follow up to my last book Foundation Blend 3 with Silverlight . This new book will have all of the information from my last book as it is still relevant for Silverlight 4 but will also include the many wonderful new features of Silvelright 4.  I have created a rough draft for the Table of Contents for the new book and have decided to share it with you.  Please feel free to help me out and provide me with comments so that I can provide you with the best product to help those that are interested learn Silveright.

Table of Contents (working name: Foundation: Silverlight 4)

• Setting up the development environment (Blend 3  probably Blend 4 when released, Visual Studio 2010, Silverlight 4 Tools, Silverlight 4 Runtime)
• The Blend 3 (probably 4) Integrated Development Environment: The Toolbar, panels, artboard, workspace modes (Animation v Design)
• C#, XAML, and Object Oriented Programming
• Controls: Including the new Silverlight 4 Controls: ViewBox, RichTextArea ,  FlowDirection Property, the Improved DataGrid
• Timed Storyboards: Creating a Newton Cradle application
• Using the VSM and Blend 3’s State panel to create a Silverlight Media Player
• Behaviors: Included behaviors and custom behaviors: Using the FarseerPhysics engine to create a simple Silverlight 4 video game
• The Silverlight MediaElement: Create a video player application with Behaviors, XML serialization, and the new Silverlight 4 Drop property
• Using RIA services with the Silverlight 4 Network Authentication
• Events and EventHandlers including SL 4 right-click and MouseWheel event handling
• Classes and Interfaces
• ControlTemplates, Styles and Custom UserControls
• Writing a Custom Silverlight 4 Content Panel
• Writing a Silverlight 4 Out of the Browser application with Elevated Trust and the new Silverlight 4 COM API
• DataBinding: What is it? Improvements in Silverlight 4: DependencyObject Binding,  StringFormat ,  TargetNullValue, FallbackValue
• Silverlight 4 Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)
• Building a Sketchflow Prototype
•  The Silverlight 4 Printing and Open Save APIs: Create an Image Printer application
• Creating a Photobooth application with the Silverlight 4 Microphone and Webcam API
• Miscellaneous Silverlight 4 Features:  The Clipboard API,  Command support for Buttons,  HTML support, the Notification API, TextTrimming, Full Keyboard access in Full Screen,  Offline DRM support, Data Validation, ,Fluid user interface support, Implicit theming for Controls, Google Chrome support

This is actually my first week of WPF and it has been a frustrating one as it is very difficult to install the WPF authoring environment. The reason for this is because MS has not released the final build for WPF as of yet. So, in order to install the authoring environment you have to install a few different things. They are:

  1. The .NET 3.0 Framework (if you have .NET 2.0 framework it might be best to uninstall it first.

  2. Visual Studio 2005 (Visual Studio Express is free and should work).

  3. Orcas.

  4. MS Interactive Designer (formally known as Sparkle)

  5. Visual Studio Extensions (so you can create a WPF project).

This should get you up and running. Soon, I will post a blog about creating a very simple WPF application. However, in the meantime I would suggest you get Jesse Libery's and Brian MacDonald's book on C#, called C# 2005 and Jessey Libery's book called, ironically enough C# and brush up on your C#. Good luck. Victor

Today I am posting my first WPF application. It is simple but I think it does show the power of the WPF 3D engine. If you have trouble seeing it you may have to download IE 7. Soon, I will post a tutorial on how I built it; you will be amazed on how simple the code for this was. Victor 

I have been in WPF bootcamp for the last three weeks and have learned quite a bit. Soon, I will post tutorials on how to style buttons as well as how to make a simple video player. Keep checking back. Victor 

We have written an exporter for 3DS Max so I have been learning the basics of that program. I made a simple model of a lightsaber with a simple rotation animation and exported it to XAML. Take a look:

Blend Beta 2 is out. I don't know if you have used this but this is awesome for the design side of WPF. I still use Visual Studio for the C#.