Avalon is a Luxury item

Let's face it.

Everyone needs WinFS. Searching for data in Windows is a pain.

Most developers need Indigo. The ASMX/EnterpriseServices/Remoting thing is too confusing and selecting one is hard, and we need better tools to move distributed computing forward.

We really don't need Avalon. I love it, but we can live with our gray Windows Forms. Avalon is like driving a Ferrari. It's quite high in the 'computing Maslow pyramid'.

Avalon is a luxury item. In some countries you'll need to pay more taxes for using it ;).

Update: I probably mean Aero and not Avalon. I'm referring to the supercool-looking UI.

7 Comments

  • Au contraire my friends!



    Vectors are the greatest advancement in the history of computing regarding UI. No more resizing fonts, or adapting resolutions to different devices, just zoom in and zoom out and the quality remains the same.



    Indigo is over hyped, only 10% of IT infrastucture depends on integration, 90% of apps don't need it same as 90% of apps can live without web services. It is important, but goes down to the bottom of the priorities.



    WinFS is somehow interesting, just a matter of using it to form a proper opinion, and let me tell you, I know when something sucks!

  • Hmmmm... I think that the demo by Amazon is an example of where grey window apps wouldn't be enough. They are talking about a client application. But they are also all about image. So sure, my little corporate applications won't need all the pizazz, but a commercial tool like Amazon's example will really benefit from it.

  • Julie,



    Yes, you are right. Amazon is also building a Luxury item ;), and I want it



    What I mean is that they are targeting a 'higher' set of needs.

  • George,



    OK, we are both biased ;), you have the first website I've ever entered that requires SVG, so you surely like vectors ;).



    Anyway, Indigo is not just about integration/webservices, is about distributed computing, transactions, messaging, etc. Most apps need that.

  • Hey, don't get me wrong, I hate xml and angle brackets to death, but I firmly believe vectors is the way to go.



    Indigo is a good concept but still vaporware, at least I can play right now with SVG ;-)

  • You totally missed the point of Avalon. It's there because of web, because web would lead user interface to abandon fat client application, which of course is not acceptable.



    To ease the pressure, there comes the effort to combine web and window to a single GUI, but must have the rich graphical character of web, otherwise it's still window/fat client.



    Avalon is step 1 on that direction. Everything Microsoft is working on is to either lead the technology, or embrace the newer demand and technology yet within Microsoft's domain. Follow that trail, you will actually be able to predict what Microsoft will bring in the future.



    Such as SOA, SVG like technologies (XAML), etc, all these have been around in tech community for a while. Now it's Microsoft's turn to make it the prime time. However, things could still change ... then Micrsoft could still change its direction to play catch up.



    Windows developer, "do you know where you're going?", just look around at anything other Micrsoft, you probably will find the answer.

  • Russel,



    I totally agree with you.



    I like Avalon a lot, and Microsoft needs it.



    The point is that, with Avalon, MS is not giving us something _we_ _need_.



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