Straight to Desktop in Windows 8.1

If you find you spend more time in the Desktop than you do the Start Screen then you may want to consider setting the desktop as the default start mode for your PC.
To configure your PC to go to the desktop when you logon or close all apps on a screen, follow these steps:
1. From the Start screen, start typing “Taskbar” and select the “Taskbar and Navigation” option from the list.  This will display the Taskbar and Navigation properties dialog.

2. Click on the Navigation tab.

3. Check the “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen…” checkbox.  This option instructs Windows to take you directly to the desktop when you sign in or if you close all apps on a screen.
4. If you would like an experience that is somewhat Windows 7-like when you click on the Start button (or press the Windows hardware button), i.e. display the Apps view instead of the Start screen, then check the “Show the Apps view automatically…” checkbox.

5. Click OK.
Check out the other options in this properties dialog for other features that you might find useful.

TFS Agile Poker for Windows 8

If you have been involved with agile software development in any form or fashion, chances are you’ve spent some time estimating effort or relative size of user stories.  This is often done by selecting a card from a special planning poker deck.  A typical planning poker deck is based on a Fibonacci sequence (e.g. 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…) though the sequence is sometimes modified after 13 for even numbers (e.g. 20, 40, 100).  This process works fairly well when all participants are located relatively close to each other (i.e. in the same room).  What if the team members are geographically separated?
It just so happens that a fellow Visual Studio ALM MVP, Mike Douglas, has recently released TFS Agile Poker for Windows 8 that works with Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server (or Team Foundation Service).

TFS Agile Poker is a free cross-platform tool for distributed and co-located teams to point (i.e. estimate) your Team Foundation Server backlog. TFS Agile Poker can be used with Team Foundation Service or or your on-premises Team Foundation Server 2010 or 2012 installation using theTFS OData Services.

Microsoft’s Brian Keller selected TFS Agile Poker as his pick of the week in This Week On Channel 9 (starting at 14:14 in the video).
The app is free and is currently available for Windows 8 with plans for Windows Phone, Web/HTML5, Android, and iOS.  Read more about this app here.

A Backup Strategy

Anyone using computers for any amount of time knows that backups are a must.  We’ve all heard or read that it’s not if your hard drive fails but rather when your hard drive fails you’ll wish you had backed up your files.  However, history has taught me that it’s not always a failed hard drive that makes me run to my backups but the more likely catalyst is my own actions.  For example, have you ever re-imaged a computer, thinking you’ve backed up everything you considered important, only to realize five minutes after installing the operating system that you forgot to include something really important in the backup set?  I have! :-)

So, with the new year starting, now is a great time to think about a backup strategy.  Even if you have a backup strategy, it’s still a good idea to review your backup process to ensure everything that needs backing up is actually getting backed up.

If you have ever researched backup strategies it’s no doubt that you have heard of the “backup rule of three” also known as the “backup 3-2-1” rule.  I have no idea how long this rule has been around as I can’t seem to locate the origin.  It essentially states the following when creating data backups:

3. Keep three copies of everything you intend on backing up.
2. Maintain your backups in at least two different formats (e.g. hard drive and memory stick, cloud storage and DVD, etc.).
1. Ensure at least one copy is kept off-site (e.g. in case of a disaster such as a flood or fire).

Based on these rules I have made use of the following technologies to satisfy my backup needs:

1. SkyDrive – If you are not familiar with Microsoft’s SkyDrive service, you should definitely check it out.  You are provided with 7 GB of on-line storage space for free – 25 GB if you happened to get in on an upgrade deal that was offered a few months back (plus another 100 GB if you happened to attend this year’s //Build/ conference).  SkyDrive also comes with free use of Microsoft’s web-based Office products including Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Excel, and Excel Surveys.  If 7 or 25 GB is not enough space, you can pay to upgrade your space.  There are also mobile clients available for Windows Phone, iPhone/iPad, and Android-based devices.  For more information regarding SkyDrive and its features, click here.
   
   In my case, I use SkyDrive to store my various documents including Word and PowerPoint files, all my photos and music, and miscellaneous other files.  Pretty much anything that I would like to have easy access to from any device I may be using.  I do not store my videos on SkyDrive, however, due to their large size.
   
   
2. Windows 8 Storage Spaces – Used in conjunction with a local machine running Windows 8 Pro (the only “tower” PC on my home network), Storage Spaces provides added protection through mirroring or parity.  In my case, I have three physical hard drives tied together via Storage Spaces using parity (~RAID 5).  If any of the three drives fail, I can replace the malfunctioning drive and the missing data will be restored automatically.  Also, if I need to add more storage to my server, I can simply install a new hard drive and add it to the Storage Spaces pool.
   
   This server is used as a central location for all backups on my home network as well as the primary storage location for all photos, music, and videos.
   
   
3. Carbonite – Similar to SkyDrive, Carbonite offers cloud-based storage.  However, Carbonite is designed and built from the ground up for backup purposes.  Carbonite’s pricing plans are very attractive as well, starting at only $59/year for unlimited storage space (for one PC).  One of the best features of Carbonite is its simplicity.  For the most part, you simply install it, sign in to Carbonite, and forget it.  However, by default, video files are not backed up (note that videos are automatically backed up with the Home Premier service).  However, it’s a simple matter of right-clicking the video files and telling Carbonite to back them up.
   
   I use Carbonite to backup my Windows 8 Pro machine – which contains all the documents and files that I care about.  Depending on how many files you have to backup, it can literally take days (weeks?) to perform the initial backup.  However, once the initial backup has been completed, new files or modifications to existing files are backed up quickly.  In the case you ever need to restore lost or damaged files the restore process can also take an extended amount of time based upon the overall size of data that needs to be restored.  If you anticipate the need to restore large amounts of data, Carbonite offers a courier service as part of their Home Premier plan in which case they will mail you a copy of your data on physical media.

The following diagram provides a general overview of how the above technologies are tied together:

With all that said, does my approach satisfy the “Backup 3-2-1” rule?  Let’s see…

3. Keep three copies of everything you intend on backing up.  Yes.  I have copies on my local file server, in SkyDrive (with the exception of videos), and within Carbonite.  I suppose I’m skimping a little bit here with videos but I am also banking on Carbonite to take reasonable steps to ensure they don’t lose my backups on their end.
2. Maintain your backups in at least two different formats (e.g. hard drive and memory stick, cloud storage and DVD, etc.).  Yes.  I have backups on local hard drives as well as two separate cloud services.
1. Ensure at least one copy is kept off-site (e.g. in case of a disaster such as a flood or fire).  Yes.  I am utilizing two separate cloud services.

So far this backup approach is working for me.  Although I believe it is a good approach it is by no means the only approach or even necessarily the best approach.  As with most processes out there, use what works for you and throw the rest out :-)  If nothing else, hopefully this post will at least get you thinking about backups and implementing a solution before you actually need it.

What backup strategy are you using?  If you have some great ideas, please let us know in the comments below.

GPZZ3W7658KG

Introduction to Windows 8 Development–Go Metro!

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at this year’s Heartland Developers Conference (HDC).  I gave an introductory talk on developing “Metro” applications for Windows 8.  The goal of the talk was to cover some of the basic features that every developer writing Windows 8 apps would have to face when first getting started.  Some of these features include:

• Obtaining Windows 8
• Obtaining the developers tools – e.g. Visual Studio 2012
• Understanding the Windows Runtime framework
• Specific application features such as:
• Roaming data (e.g. app settings) to the cloud
• Contracts and extensions
• Using the File Picker
• Implementing application settings (via the charms bar)
• Create app bars
• Understanding the application lifecycle
• Windows Store
• Registration
• Packaging
• Publishing

The talk went very well and I was pleased with the turnout of my session as well as the conference overall.  As always, HDC has turned out to be a great developer resource.  I look forward to returning next year.

The slides for my session have been uploaded here.  I have also published the corresponding demos (Windows 8, C#/XAML) on SkyDrive, here.  There are some great resource links in the last few slides so be sure to check them out.

How Many Windows 8 Apps are in the Windows Store?

Although there are roughly one bazillion (yes, I made that number up :-) “desktop” apps currently available that will run on Windows 8, the number of Metro “Windows Store” apps still measures in the hundreds (not hundreds of thousands, just hundreds).  If you’re curious about how many Windows Store apps are available in your marketplace, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Windows Store app.
   
   
   
2. Open the Charms Bar and tap Search (or press Logo+Q).
   
3. Enter * (an asterisk) as the search term and press Enter (ensure Store is the selected search source).
   
   
   
4. As of the time of writing this, there are 937 Windows Store apps available (in my marketplace).
   
   

NOTE: There may be a simpler, quicker way to determine the app count for Windows Store apps, I just haven’t come across it yet.  If you know of an easier way, please share it with us in the comments below.

Visual Studio 2012 Available August 15th + Windows 8

Today Microsoft announced that the final build of Visual Studio 2012 has been completed.  The final bits will be available for download from MSDN and “elsewhere” on August 15th.  The official launch will be on September 12th via an on-line event.  You can find out more about the launch event here: http://www.visualstudiolaunch.com/

Also from Microsoft, today they announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 8.  Windows 8 will be generally available on new machines as well as on-line on October 26th.  For more information about Windows 8 visit the Building Windows 8 blog.

Windows 8 Beta and Visual Studio 11 Beta Quick Links

If you haven't yet downloaded the Windows 8 Beta or Visual Studio 11 Beta, a list of links are provided below for convenience.  If there is anything missing (from the February 29th beta wave release), please leave a comment below and we'll get it added to the list.

Windows 8

• Windows 8 Consumer Preview
• Windows 8 Server Beta - must register to download

Visual Studio 11 Beta

Download - this link works for the following product downloads:

.NET

• .NET Framework 4.5 Beta

Visual Studio

• Visual Studio 11 Ultimate Beta
• Visual Studio 11 Premium Beta
• Visual Studio 11 Professional Beta
• Visual Studio 11 Test Professional Beta
• Visual Studio 11 Express Beta for Web
• Visual Studio 11 Express Beta for Windows 8
• IntelliTrace Collector for Visual Studio 11 Beta
• Agents for Visual Studio 11 Beta
• Feedback Client for Visual Studio 11 Beta
• Remote Tools for Visual Studio 11 Beta
• Visual Studio 11 Beta Shell
• Visual Studio 11 Beta SDK

Team Foundation Server

• Team Foundation Server Beta
• Team Foundation Server Express Beta
• Team Explorer Beta
• Team Explorer Everywhere Beta

Getting Help - To help with any questions you might have, please refer to the following:

• Visual Studio 11 Beta Forums - get answers to your questions from the community
• Visual Studio 11 Beta Documentation - includes walkthroughs, samples, training kits, etc.

Providing Feedback - To provide feedback (bugs, suggestions, etc.) for any of the Visual Studio 11 Beta products, utilize the corresponding Connect site:

• Visual Studio
• LightSwitch
• Blend

Observations and Contemplation with Windows 8

Like most people who downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview last week, I’ve have only a short amount of time to play around with the bits.  During that time I’ve hit several speed bumps and have scratched my head a bit while attempting to figure out a few (seemingly simple) tasks.  What I’ve listed below are just a few of my observations and moments of contemplation that I’ve had over the past few days.

1. How do I shut down my Windows 8 machine?  This is one of those functions that is so completely obvious that you don’t realize it’s even there until someone moves it from the place it’s lived in for the past 16, or so, years.  Like a lot of people, I installed the Windows 8 Developer Preview bits, played around for a while only to realize it was the middle of the night.  So I decided to power off my laptop and go to bed.  However, I no longer had a “Shut down'” option under my Start menu.  In fact, all my Start menu seemed to do was toggle between the two most recent apps.  So, I had to do some digging.
   
   There are several options, none of which were immediately obvious to me, for powering down your Windows 8 machine.  Although there may be other options that I’m no yet aware of, I’ve included the ones I’ve discovered below.  Some of these are more convenient than others but I’ve listed them all for completeness:
   
   1. On the Start screen, press Windows+I to display the Settings panel and then click on the Power icon at the bottom and select Shut down.
   2. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then click on the Power icon at the bottom and select Shut down.
   3. Go to the Control Panel (e.g. from the Start screen type ‘con’ and press Enter) and select More settings.  Click on Power Options and then ‘Choose what the power buttons do’.  Set the ‘When I press the power button’ option to Shut down.  Then simply press the power button to turn off your machine.
   4. You can also create a Shut Down Live Tile for your start screen.  Instructions are here.
   5. Press Windows+R, enter ‘CMD’ and press Enter.  Type ‘Shutdown /s’ (no quotes) and press Enter.
      
2. Keyboard Shortcuts.  If you’ve been using Windows 7 (or prior versions) for a while then you may already be used to many of the standardized Windows keyboard shortcuts.  For example, pressing Windows+E will display the Windows Explorer.  Most of these shortcuts still work in Windows 8 but there is also a new set of keyboard shortcuts for the new Metro-style Start screen.  Rather than list them all here check out this post.
   
3. Windows Phone 8.  Although I didn’t attend last week’s //Build/ conference, I have watched the keynotes as well as several other sessions.  One topic I didn’t really hear/see any information on was that of Windows Phone 8 (codename “Apollo”).  I’ve seen various speculation (e.g. here and here and others) that Windows 8 would eventually run on Windows Phone but I didn’t see anything to substantiate that during the conference.  It only makes sense for Microsoft to head that direction, I just suppose it’s a little too early to talk about it with Windows Phone 7.5 (“Mango”) due to be officially released (by the carriers) any time now.
   
4. .NET Framework.  It’s certain that the .NET Framework is not going anywhere anytime soon.  I do have to wonder, however, just how long will the .NET Framework be around?  With the introduction of the new Windows Runtime (WinRT) used to develop Windows 8 Metro applications the .NET Framework is now used to develop non-Metro apps (including Silverlight-based applications).  Will WinRT eventually be used to build all applications for Windows 8?  I suppose that until all supported versions of Windows support WinRT Microsoft will have to continue support for the .NET Framework.  Only time will tell but I’m sure someone in Microsoft has seen the super-secret roadmap and knows where all of this is heading.
   
5. Silverlight.  There was a lot of speculation around the demise of Silverlight prior to the //Build/ conference.  It was widely rumored (and somewhat stated) that HTML5/CSS and JavaScript were to be the languages of choice for writing Metro applications in Windows 8.  A lot of questions were asked about the future of Silverlight if HTML5/CSS+JavaScript were to become the cross-platform technology of choice.
   
   Although I did not see it directly addressed, it’s fairly clear now (after the conference) that Silverlight is very much alive and that the HTML5/CSS+JavaScript solution, when utilizing WinRT, really only applies to Windows 8 Metro apps – not cross-platform apps (like those that you might build with Silverlight).
   
   So, from my simplistic point of view, if you want to build “fully immersive”, Metro-style applications in Windows 8 then HTML5/CSS+JavaScript over WinRT is a valid option (as is C/C++, VB, or C#).  However, if you want to build a business application (or even a non-business application) that runs across multiple versions of Windows and/or other operating systems then Silverlight is still a great choice (as is HTML5/CSS+JavaScript sans WinRT).
   
6. What Gets “Metro-fied”?  If you’ve used Windows 8 for more than a few minutes on a non-tablet PC (i.e. a desktop or laptop) then you surely have been forced into the non-metro bowels of Windows.  For example, if you start Windows Explorer (Windows+E) it will open in the “desktop” shell.  If you want to change your power settings (as described above), you will have to do that from the old-school desktop.  In fact, the majority of Windows features do not run within the new Metro-based Start screen.  So, as Windows 8 marches its way toward RTM, exactly which applications will be metrofied?
   
   I don’t know the answer to this question but it seems logical that any application that you might want to make use of on a tablet PC would be a great candidate for metrofication.  For example, the calculator app that ships with Windows 8 is currently not metrofied (i.e. it opens up on the desktop when you run it).  I would imagine that a calculator app might be useful on a tablet PC so I could see this app being metrofied by the time Windows 8 finally ships.
   
7. Your Mouse is Not a Finger.  Unfortunately, I was not at the //Build/ conference this year so I did not receive one of the ultra-cool Samsung Windows 8 Tablet PCs (or whatever they called them).  Therefor, I installed Windows 8 on an old Dell Inspiron 9300 that does not have a touch screen.  Once I logged on I was greeted by the beautiful, new Metro Start screen.  Naturally, the first thing I did was to attempt to left-click and drag my mouse cursor across the screen in an attempt to scroll through the applications.  To my surprise, nothing happened.  It turns out that there is a really big (and ugly) scrollbar at the bottom of the screen that you have to use to manipulate the app list with the mouse.  Why?  Why not treat the mouse as a single touch point when left-clicking on the background?  If your computer is locked (e.g. when you first power up) you can slide the lock screen up with the mouse.  Why not the application list?  Maybe this is something that will be worked into a future version (possibly as a configuration option that can be turned on/off).  If not, maybe there will be enough extensibility in the platform such that a 3rd party provider can create some type of add-on to provide this type of functionality.
   
8. Closing an Application.  Much like with Windows Phone 7/7.5 it appears you don’t really have to think a whole lot about closing (Metro) applications in Windows 8.  In fact, none of the Metro applications that ship with the Windows 8 Developer Preview appear to have any sort of “close” functionality.  When you’re finished with an app, you simply swipe from the right to display the “charms” (see below) and click on the Windows icon (or press the Windows key).  At some point Windows will suspend and, eventually, terminate the application process(es).  The specifics of how all this works is still a bit of a mystery to me (e.g. at what point is an application suspended?  At what point does it get terminated?) but I’m sure the answers are out there somewhere – I just haven’t come across them yet.
   
9. Charms?  Really?  If you have a touch-based system running Windows 8 and you swipe from the right (or press Windows+I on a non-touch-based system) a vertical row of five icons are displayed (Settings, Devices, Share, Search, and Start).  These icons are called, according to Microsoft, Charms.  In fact, Microsoft has filed for a trademark for the term “charm”.  I’ve always thought of charms as those small, shiny, jingly things my daughter wears on her bracelet.  I suppose I’ll just have to get used to this one :-)
   
10. There is no 10 (at least not yet :-).  For the sake of not creating yet another top ten list I am intentionally stopping at number nine above.  However, as I spend more time with Windows 8 (and Visual Studio 11) over the coming weeks, I am sure I will uncover more questions and hopefully even more answers.  One thing I am sure of is that it is going to be a fun time digging into all that is new with Windows 8.

//build/ Observations from the Outside–Day 1

Like so many others, I was not able to attend the //build/ conference (formerly known as the Professional Developers Conference or PDC).  However, I did have the opportunity to watch the streaming keynote live and I’ve also spent a good portion of the day watching various twitter, Facebook, and blog posts from those who are attending.  With so much coming out of Microsoft in one day it’s hard to keep up with everything being announced and talked about so I thought I’d put a few notes together around today’s event.

The word of the day is BOLD

I didn’t actually count the number of times the word “bold” was used during the keynote session earlier today but I can safely say it was used a lot.  In general, it was used in reference to Microsoft making a “bold, no compromises move”.  I have to admit, after seeing the various demonstrations from the keynote, I agree that Microsoft is making a bold move and rethinking Windows as a platform.  A quick (non-complete) list of some of the things demonstrated include:

• The new Windows 8 Metro-style UI
• Windows 8 running on multiple form factors including desktop PCs and various tablet PCs (running ARM-based processors)
• Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 3
• Visual Studio “11” (v.Next) Express
• A new framework for developing software for Windows
• Windows Application Store
• Windows 8 using less memory with fewer (default) processes than Windows 7
• Picture-based login
• Support for inter-application integration provided directly within Windows 8
• Spell checking at the OS level (i.e. spell checking everywhere)
• Fast boot

Developing for Windows 8

With Windows 8 Microsoft introduce a new programming platform known as the Windows Runtime – or WinRT.  Developers can now utilize their language of choice when building applications targeted against Windows 8.  Regardless of which language you choose, which now includes JavaScript, the WinRT APIs will be reflected into your language of choice and made available for use.

One thing to note is that Silverlight (or WPF for that matter) was only mentioned during the keynote as a “legacy” technology (in not so many words).  They did demonstrate running a Silverlight application running on Windows 8 and was able to “Metro-fy” it with a minimal amount of code modification.  It seems that the rumors of HTML5/CSS + JavaScript being the preferred approach for developing Metro-style applications rather than Silverlight have been verified.

A pre-release version of Visual Studio “11” was also demonstrated and used for the various coding examples.  The keynote did not go into the details of what’s new in Visual Studio so I will post more details on Visual Studio as they are made clear.

A new (pre-release) version of Expression Blend 5 was demonstrated now with support for HTML and CSS!  That is an awesome addition to the Microsoft development tools suite.

Head in the Cloud

Windows Live integration is front and center in Windows 8.  Modifying your applications to interact with SkyDrive, for example, requires minimal coding and is supported directly by Windows 8.  Windows Live integration is present throughout Windows 8 with my favorite feature (although it wasn’t directly demonstrated) being the ability to synchronize your various settings (e.g. history, passwords, themes, etc.) via the cloud so they follow you around from device-to-device.

The “Giveaway”

If you’ve followed the PDC for the last couple of years you know that Microsoft has given some type of hardware to each of the (paying) attendees to help gain developer support.  A couple of years ago, at PDC10, it was an Acer Table PC.  Last year, it was a Windows Phone 7 device (I happened to be there and received an LG-900 Windows Phone 7 device).  Once again, this year Microsoft did not disappoint and provided each of the attendees with a Samsung Windows 8 Developer Tablet (or PC as Microsoft calls it).  To add to the already great gift, AT&T threw in a year of free 3G service (2GB/month)!  Not a bad deal for the attendees!

That’s Awesome!  When Can I Have It?

In typical Microsoft fashion, no release dates were announced.  However, they did provide the “Path to ‘RTM’” as shown in the slide below:

Although we don’t know yet when the final bits will be made available for download, you can download the Windows 8 Developer Preview now.  There are three flavors of Windows 8 downloads available:

• Windows Developer Preview with Developer Tools – English, 64-bit (x64) – 4.8GB
• Windows Developer Preview – English, 64-bit (x64) – 3.6GB
• Windows Developer Preview – English, 32-bit (x86) – 2.8GB

You can download any or all of the above releases here.

More to Come!

Keep in mind that my observations below are a small part of what was seen and demonstrated today.  I’m looking forward to the next few days of the //build/ conference and probably a few nights of little sleep :-)  I have the preview version of Windows 8 downloaded and am preparing to install it as I type this post (I’m currently creating a bootable USB drive for the image).  I have no doubt that I, along with thousands of others, will be blogging their experiences over the next days, weeks, and months ahead.  It is going to be a fun ride!