Mozilla introduced Jetpack, an application programming interface designed to permit developers to apply web development technologies and skills to building Firefox add-ons, in May 2009. Since the initial, 0.1 version release of the API, no less than four updates were introduced, focused mainly on resolving bugs with the initial build, but also on introducing new API features. On June 11, Mozilla labs brought to the table Jetpack 0.2, defined as a major refresh compared to the minor updates delivered since the solution was first launched. The evolution of Jetpack from 0,1 to 0.2 offers developers a new Firefox experimental UI element and fresh APIs.
“Besides numerous bug fixes (including a particularly nasty one that would hide prevent extensions from being in the status bar), there are three main additions: slidebars, jetpack.future, and persistent storage,” revealed Aza Raskin, head of user experience for Mozilla Labs. “Slidebars are a reinvention of the old sidebar feature of browsers. They allow quick access to a wide range of both temporary and permanent information at the side of your browser window.”
Raskin stressed the fact that Jetpack was put together to serve a double purpose. First and foremost, the solution is designed as a platform for experimentation. However, this aspect needs not to lead to the exclusion of developers using Jetpack as a solid and comprehensive set of APIs capable of extending Firefox. In this context, Mozilla Labs now allows Jetpack developers to import features from the future, as long as they are experimental in nature, which is the case of Slidebars, for example.
“One of the most requested features in the Jetpack development mailing list was for the ability to persistently store data across restarts. We’ve added simple storage to the future module,” Raskin added. “Mozilla Labs is a virtual lab where people come together online to create, experiment and play with Web innovations for the public benefit. The Jetpack experiment is still in its infancy and just getting started.”
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Microsoft is pushing ahead with the final stretch associated with the development process of its next iteration of the Windows client. Windows 7 will continue to cook for a little over a month as the Redmond company is baking the RTM build, with the Release Candidate milestone continuing to be available for a taste of the platform’s final development build. As Windows 7 starts on the last yards ahead of next month’s release to manufacturing, the software giant is not only focusing on the testing for the operating system, but also on getting the ecosystem of hardware and software solutions orbiting Windows ready for the successor of Windows Vista. One aspect of the company’s efforts is the Windows 7 RC Training Kit for Developers.
“The Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is based on Windows 7 RC and provides an early peak to our final training. This training kit is designed to help you learn how to build applications that shine on Windows 7 by utilizing key features such as: Taskbar, Libraries, Multi Touch, Sensors and Location, Ribbon, Trigger Start Services, Instrumentation and ETW, application compatibility,” Microsoft explained. Read More»
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December 11, 2008 by
Jason Microsoft has developed one of the key resources it has been providing so far for Windows 7. Accompanying the release of Windows 7 pre-Beta Build 6801 Milestone 3 at the Professional Developers Conference 2008 at the end of October in Los Angeles is the Windows 7 Developer Guide. At the start of December 2008, the Redmond company began offering version 1.2 of the Windows 7 Developer Guide, which brings an edited Media Platform section. In this regard, in version 1.1, Microsoft delivered descriptions to the areas dealing with the Windows Biometric Framework (WBF) and Direct3D 10.1 Command Remoting.
“The Windows Biometric Framework (WBF) provides an API which enables applications to use fingerprint devices to enroll, identify, and verify user identities without gaining direct access to any biometric fingerprint hardware or samples. You can use WBF with fingerprint devices that have Windows Biometric Device Interface (WBDI) drivers. WBF is extensible through plug-in adapters that manage sensor communications, biometric matching, and template storage,” Microsoft revealed. Read More»
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Deep inside Windows XP there’s all sorts of forgotten tools and utilities, some of which were carried over from earlier versions of Windows, or left behind by the developers. Here is a few for you to be getting on with and all you have to do is type the name in Run on the Start menu (without the quotes of course). Most of them are undocumented, though a few of them have some Help files which might help you figure them out but as always you use and try them at your own risk Read More»
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