UX Confidential

Microsoft MVP Award x2

I was thrilled to discover last night that I have received my second Microsoft MVP Award for Expression Blend. This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. 

I spend a lot of time speaking and evangelizing Expression Blend, Silverlight and WPF with the design and technical communities and it's amazing for Microsoft to recognize these efforts. The way that Microsoft has opened itself up to designers is incredible. That they have provided game-changing tools for desingers to collaborate more effectively with developers is nothing short of amazing.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of such a great community.

Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview Now Available

Along with the release of the Silverlight 2 Beta 2 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Betas, comes the June preview of Expression Blend 2.5.

I am eager to install and test these new bits as Control Skinning has made its way to this version! I will be posting a review and thoughts on this new release after I have spent a few days with it. A list of known issues can be found here.

BTW, I still only recommend these betas for Silverlight 2 development. If you're working with WPF apps, stick with the RTM version of Blend 2.

Exporting XAML from Photoshop & Illustrator

From the mailbag…

John B. of Chicago asks: I am a UI designer that is interested in exploring XAML, WPF and Silverlight. Is there a way I can leverage my current set of tools (Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks) when working with Expression Blend, or do I need to start using Expression Design?

As a vector and raster graphic design tool, Expression Design is a great companion to Blend and it offers some advanced options and features when exporting artwork to XAML. But thankfully you don’t have to forgo years of Illustrator experience to get your designs into Blend.

There are several free plug-ins available that let designers export their existing files, artwork and layouts to XAML from industry-standard design tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks:

• Michael Swanson offers a free plug-in that enables export from Adobe Illustrator to WPF and Silverlight compatible XAML. You can download his AI to XAMLExport plug-in here.

• Psd2Xaml from flowlabs.net is a free open-source tool for converting Photoshop .PSD files to XAML. Psd2Xaml saves vectors and layout data as in XAML and creates a folder containing the bitmaps from the PSD file. As a bonus, it also supports limited .SWF conversion to XAML.

• For Fireworks users, the Infragistics Fireworks to XAML Exporter is an extension that allows you to easily convert artwork created in the Fireworks to XAML.

 Thanks for your question, John.

Riapalooza Chicago

Join your fellow RIA professionals for RIApalooza, a invaluable two day event aimed at exploring and promoting the development of Rich Internet Applications.

I will be presenting on WPF and fellow Magenicon Corey Miller will be showing his Silverlight chops.

RIApalooza promises a platform agnostic and "PowerPoint-Free" zone, which means we are going to forgo the boring marketing pitches in favor of talking technology. RIApalooza is about creating Rich Internet Applications; how to go about building them and what is being built.

The event begins with a social meet-and-greet, Friday, May 30, 2008 from 6pm to 10pm. Presentations and sessions will be held Saturday, May 31, 2008 from 9am to 5pm.

The event will be held at the Illinois Technology Association, located at 200 S Wacker Drive 15th Floor Chicago, IL 60606.

Magenic will be co-sponsoring the event along with Microsoft, Adobe, the Chicago Area Adobe Group among others. Space is limited so head on over and register now.

UPDATE: For my presentation, I plan on demoing an ongoing WPF project... showcasing how the app is being built, and how to skin controls in WPF.

2 Flavors of Expression Blend

I had the chance to chat briefly with Pete Blois from the Microsoft Expression team about this week's announcements regarding Blend. He pointed out that there are 2 new versions of Blend now available: Blend 2 Beta and Blend 2.5 March 2008 Preview. He recommended only using the 2.5 Preview when working with Silverlight 2 projects and sticking with the Blend 2 Beta when working with WPF. I will be installing both versions and have a comparison review of in the coming days.

Microsoft Uses Photosynth to Create WorldWide Telescope

We're finally seeing a cool new use of Microsoft's Photosynth technology in the Worldwide Telescope, a virtual astronomy application that trumps Google Sky in user interface and wow factor. Much like the 3D photo collages we've seen from Photosynth, users are treated to a virtual version of the universe. The technology combines images and feeds from telescopes and satellites, and weaves them together to create a comprehensive view of space and beyond. Check out the video from yesterday's TED conference.

A First Look at Silverlight 2!

In anticipation of MIX08 in March, Scott Guthrie has posted his First Look at Silverlight 2.

MIX08 Sold Out...

If you haven't registered in time, you are too late. MIX08 is now sold out. Luckily all the sessions will be recorded and posted to www.visitmix.com following the conference.

2 Great Reasons to get Windows Live Now!

The Windows Live platform has recently added some compelling services that provide free online file storage and media streaming that Silverlight designers and developers can take advantage of.

SkyDrive provides 5GB of free online storage, and is accessible from any Windows or Macintosh computer with Internet access. The service allows you to create personal, shared, and public folders with password protection. SkyDrive is tightly integrated with Spaces, a service that lets users share photos and post blog entries.

While SkyDrive provides online storage for files, Silverlight Steaming, allows you to host Silverlight applications and media for free! Currently in pre-release, Silverlight Streaming offers designers and developers up to 4BG to host rich media as part of their Silverlight applications.

SkyDrive and Silverlight Streaming, as with all Windows Live Services, require a free Windows Live ID. If you use Hotmail, Windows Messenger or MSN you already have a Live ID. Click here to learn more.

Creating Simple Events for Buttons in Blend

At this week's Chicago .NET Users Group, I presented a short Silverlight demo for creating interactive buttons with simple events using Expression Blend and javascript. For those that asked for the demo files from my presentation, here they are: Download CNUG_Silverlight_SimpleEvent.zip