Windows 10

Generate C# Classes from a JSON String Easily Using Visual Studio

Sat, 10 Jun 2017 15:43:00 GMT

As developers, we are often faced with certain tasks that are very repetitive in nature, which can also be time consuming to solve it. For example, whenever we need to reserialize a complex JSON string to classes we may need to write a lot of code. Until recently, whenever I needed to do such task I invariably create the classes manually and if it's a complex string, I was spending way too much time on that.

When the instances like these began to happen every now and then, I decided to search for online options which can spit out classes from a JSON string. After some googling, I found out this site json2csharp.com which can do what I was looking for. You only need to paste the JSON in the input box and click on the Generate button to get the classes in C#.

So, I began to follow this approach and was recommending it to my peers also. But things did change very recently, I was following up on a question in ASP.NET forums where a user asked for the same thing which I faced. From one of the answers posted in the thread I came to know that this feature is available out of the box in Visual Studio. At first, I thought that it's a new feature, but to my surprise I found out that it was even available from 2012. Truly a hidden gem.

You can access these feature from the menu Edit -> Paste Special -> Paste JSON as Classes

Please note that you may not see this by default. Copy JSON to clipboard, then check the menu to see the option.

I used the following JSON which generated the classes as shown below

{"menu": {
  "id": "file",
  "value": "File",
  "popup": {
    "menuitem": [
      {"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},
      {"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},
      {"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}
    ]
  }
}}

public class Rootobject
{
    public Menu menu { get; set; }
}

public class Menu
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string value { get; set; }
    public Popup popup { get; set; }
}

public class Popup
{
    public Menuitem[] menuitem { get; set; }
}

public class Menuitem
{
    public string value { get; set; }
    public string onclick { get; set; }
}

D - Day : Welcome to the Windows Era

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

With the clock now past the midnight to ring in July 29th, Microsoft went live with the release of Windows 10 worldwide in 190 countries and in 111 languages. The upgradation will start in each country by 12.00 AM and the rollout process will happen in batches and in a staged manner, so those who reserved their copies don't get worried about the upgrade for the time being, it will be coming to your machines very soon. Also the links for ISO files are also now live, but the catch here is that you will need the serial number during the installation process, for those who have that right now they can proceed with the installation using the iso files. The instructions and links for the iso files can be found here.

Currently there is a workaround for those who have reserved the copy for Windows 10 and yet to see the update, please find this post in the Windows Central site. I haven't tried this one yet, so proceed with this at your own risk if have ran out of patience. In the meantime you go through these links which has in depth reviews, tip and tricks, help guides etc

Watch this space for more on my upgradation experience and till then have fun with the ninja cat

D-01 : Windows is Free

Mon, 27 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

This one statement was the biggest surprise from Microsoft since they announced their plans to release the next version of Windows to the masses. Yes, you heard it right, they are giving it free for all for a year from the date of the launch and anyone wishes to install after that will need to shell out some money. They will be providing support and unlimited access to updates also for those who jumped in the first year too.

The dwindling sales of the desktops and laptops as well as the poor response to previous version may have forced Microsoft to take this step. But as more and more services and enterprises embracing the cloud and the future plans for Windows as a Service will help Microsoft to gain the lost ground in the long term.

So do I need to really really upgrade even if the offer is tempting ?

Windows XP, Vista

If you are running on Windows XP, then you should really upgrade it. We all know it was one of the best product to come out of Microsoft, but it has reached the end of the life cycle long back and also it was developed prior to Web 2.0 and there are many shortcomings in the OS to run in the modern web era.

Windows 7

If you are running on Windows 7, then it will be a difficult option to switch. If you are okay with the OS, then there is no need to upgrade right now. Windows 10 still has some feature from Windows 8.0/8.1 and if you are not going to use any one of them, then stick with the current one. But if you want to exploit the under the hood features of Windows 8 such as faster boot up time, improved task manager, one drive syncing and additional features such as Cortana, Virtual Desktops , then go for it. You won't find much difference between the two softwares and will get you going from the day one itself.

Windows 8/8.1

Should upgrade. Windows 10 removes most of the annoying things in Windows 8/8.1 and it's now much more user friendly for non-touch input when compared to the previous version.

Also the free upgrade can be done only for the ones having a valid license of Windows XP/7/8. If you are running a pirated version then Microsoft will allow you to upgrade to Windows 10, but still it will be an unlicensed one.

D-02 : Windows 10 Editions

Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

As we all know that Window 10 is slated for release on July 29 in 190 countries and 111 languages. The new incarnation of Windows is designed to run on a variety of devices such as Surface Hub, Desktop. Laptop, Tablets, Phone, XBOX, Holo Lens and also on IoT devices. To cater these devices Windows 10 comes in various flavours and let's take a look on each one of them.

Windows 10 Home

Targeted for home consumers, runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and 2-in-1s. Will have Cortana, Edge, Continuum support, Windows Hello, universal apps such as Photos, Mail, Calendar, Music and Video.

Windows 10 Mobile

Designed for smaller devices such as mobiles, smart phones and phablets, does have all the universal apps from the home edition as well as touch centric Office app. It does support continuum to use their phone like a pc if the device meets the hardware requirements

Windows 10 Pro

Desktop editon for desktops, laptops, tablets and 2-in-1s. Has many extra features built on top of home edition and is suitable for small business. Will have support for the new Windows Update for Business which helps to reduce management costs, controls over updates installation and offers quicker access to security updates.

Windows 10 Enterprise

Ideal for medium and large businesses, available for Volume Licensing customers, supports Windows Update for Business and have access to Long Term Servicing Branch as a deployment option

Windows 10 Education

Built on top of Enterprise version, designed to meet the needs of schools and various academic institutions, available through Academic Volume Licensing

Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise

Designed for business customers on smartphones and phablets, available for Volume Licensing Customers, offers great productivity, security and device management capabilities and flexible ways to manage updates.

Windows IoT Core

Designed for small footprint, low cost devices like gateways

There will also be seperate versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise for devices like ATMs, POS, Handheld Terminals and Industrial Robotics

D-03 : Windows Insider App

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

The Windows Insider program was launched by Microsoft to onboard people who were interested in trying out the latest operating system from them. Since the debacle of Windows 8, Microsoft also wanted to erase all the negativity surrounding their flagship product. So instead of releasing beta version now and then, the users needed to get registered with them in the Windows Insider program site to get hold of the future builds for Windows 10. As time went on Microsoft released an universal app for the program, which enabled the users to get access to the notifications and announcements as part of the core experience itself. In the earlier builds the app was available for download from the store itself, but with the recent builds the app became part of the OS itself and now can be installed from optional features section. The insider app will not be installed by default and users needs to manually install them if he wants to be a part of the insider program.

You can add an optional feature from the Settings app and in this case I am using the search functionality in the app to add a new feature. Clicking on the Add a optional feature in the search list will take you to the Manage Optional features page from where the user will have the option for adding.

Clicking on the Add a Feature link will show you a page which will list all the optional features available for the user. From there choose Insider Hub and click on the install button to start the installation. If you go back to the manage features page, you can track the progress of the installation. Once the installation is completed the Insider Hub app can be accessed from the start bar or by typing in the search bar in the task bar.

The insider app also has similar design like the other built in universal apps, with the left section having links for Insider Hub, Announcements, Alerts and Profile. The hamburger icon can be used to hide and collapse the left section and menu bar in the right side will have options for sharing, registering feedback as well as Copy link to clipboard options along with links for Privacy Statement and Terms of use.

The Insider hub page acts like a dashboard from where you can access various quests as well as profile and announcements. Quests are like little quizzes which help you to get accustomed with the various features in the software and does have option to register the feedback about the same.

The announcements page will show all the notifications from Microsoft regarding the preview builds and various offers related to it. The unread notifications willl appear in bold in the list to help the user to easily distingush those. The alerts page will have that needs to be actioned by the user such as expiry of the current build or pending verification of the connected accounts etc will appear there.

The profile page will list all your achivements and badges which you get while completing various quests and other milestones. It will also list the number of feedback you have submitted as well as the number of upvotes got for your feedback.

So with the Insider app, you can help Microsoft in building better and reliable software by providing timely feedback as well as suggestions for improving the experience. It will also help you to get access to pre release software much earlier than general public.

D-05 : Get in touch with Microsoft using the Feedback App

Thu, 23 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Windows 10 now includes a feeback app, again an universal one for sending you suggestions and issues directly to Microsoft rather than through websites or forums. The app has two sections, all the categories will be listed in the left side and right side has a panoramic control which list the topics in different categories such as Trending, Most Recent and Upvotes. Additional options include searching for topics by typing in the box provided and also for filtering the resultset.

When you type inside the search box the results will be automatically updated based on the keywords in the box. The resultset will show the current status of the issue/suggestion along with an option to upvote the feedback if you are also facing the same issue.

The options available in the filters for narrowing the result set are My Build, Suggestion, Problems and My Feedback

If I choose My build then the result set will be based of the current build of Windows 10 where as My Feedback will show the issues/suggestion raised by me.

The home page of the Feedback app also has a button for adding a new one too. The New Feedback screen will have the following options shown in the image below. It also has built in functionality for taking screenshots as much as you like and attaches it to the feedback.

When you click on the Take Screenshot button, two icon will appear on the top left corner of the screen. One with camera icon is used to take the screenshot and for taking multiple ones keep clicking on the icon. Once you are done with you needs to click on the stop icon which will then automatically attaches all the images to the feedback and it will also appear in the page. If you want to remove any one of the attached images, click on the X button in the top right corner of the attached image.

Once the feedback is submitted you will be presented with the thank you page with a button to go back to the home page of the app.

D-07 : The Revamped Photos App

Tue, 21 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

The Photos app in Windows 10 looks much different from its Windows 8 cousing and in this app also the design is not consistent with other app say calendar or email. Eventhough it has got two sections, left one for the menu and the layout and right one for showing the details. Again you can notice the inconsistency in left section that the bottom links is not appearing in a task bar but as a list. Again the hamburger icon is present which can be used to control the visibility of the left bar. Links available in the helps you to navigate to the collection which will list all the images in the library, the Albums will take you to the list of available albums. Towards the bottom part will show the connected account if you have already done that otherwise it will show a plus icon to configure one along with the Settings link.

The settings page has toggles for automatically enhancing the photos as well as linking the duplicates. The automatic enhancements feature won't modify the files, but will be used to enhanced the photo in the gallery. If you turn that off, the photos will appear as it is. The linked duplicate feature will show the exact duplicates as single file even if they are stored in different folders or is having a different format. Also it has options to chose what type of photos needs to shown in the live tile for the app in the start menu, to toggle one drive sync and to add folders which will be used to show the photos in the collection library.

The Collection library will list all the photos from the sources configured in the settings page as one single list. It does have a jumplist and you can access that by click on the month name just above a set of photos which will list the months based on the created date info from the metadata of the image. So instead of scrolling all the way to bottom of the list, you will be able to jump to the particular month.

The details section also has got three icon in the top part for refreshing the list, to show the checkbox for selecting multiple files as well as an import link. The import feature can be used import images from devices like camera or phone.

Double clicking on the image will open the image in the viewer which will have the options which are similar to what we have in the photo viewer in Windows 7 as shown in the image.

D-08 : People App got a makeover

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

The People App in Windows 10 got a significant makeover from Windows 8, apart from being a Universal App, all the tight integration with Facebook and Twitter is now gone. Although you will be able the achieve the same effect by configuring the connected apps to show the feeds in the app. Since there was a tight integration in Windows 8 the changes made by third parties in their API was bringing down the app and Microsoft does the right thing by uncoupling it.

Unlike the Calendar and Mail app, the design consistency is lacking in this app. The e hamburger icon is missing, the search bar and title is different as well as the layout of the app. Like the other apps it has got two section, the left side section show the list of contacts and the right section shows the details of the selected contact in the left section

Also the contact list has the jumplist feature built in to the app. You can activate it by clicking on the alphabet and from there you can easily navigate to any contact selecting with the alphabet you tap. Also you can use the search bar to search a particular contact.

To edit a contact just click on the pen icon in the right section which will bring up the edit page prepopulated with the current details. In this page you will have the options to add a photo, add more details such as email, phone, work address etc.

Clicking on the plus sign in the left section will bring up the page to add a new contact to the list. But before adding the contact, you must determine the account which will be holding this contact info. Like the mail and calendar app, you will have the option to configure accounts such as Outlook, Gmail etc and if there are multiple accounts configure in your device, you needs to choose one from the dialog. After that a page similar to what we have seen while editing will be shown where you enter the information.

Another option we have in People app is to merge multiple accounts. Majority of us will be having multiple email accounts with same contacts, so when we import all those contacts to the mail app these entries will be duplicated. The people app has this linking option which will help you to merge the similar accounts. The link option is sitting next to the pen icon in the right section and clicking on it will bring up a page like the one given below. If the mail app will show already linked accounts for that contact and if you want to add more, then click on the Choose to contact a link button. There the people app will automatically list the entries which matches the details like name or email as well as the user will have the option to manually select entries too. Once you are done with the selection, the user can click on the link button to merge the entries

Clicking on the three dots in the left section will take you the settings page where you can configure new accounts, manage already added accounts as well as options to set how you want to display the names in the list, how sorting needs to be done etc.

D-09 : The Calendar App

Sun, 19 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Calendar App in Windows 10 is another major app that got the upgrade from Windows 8. With a new look and feel in line with the modern design guidelines followed in Windows and the most noticeable feature will be the ability to sync and view the Google Calendar. As of now the calendar app works with online accounts only and that means you won't be able to create events and meeting request that are local to the machine. To get started with you can use the Microsoft account you used to connect with Windows 10 to import the calendars from there or any supported accounts like Google Calendar, Outlook, Live, Hotmail etc.

Like the mail app, Calendar app is also a universal app based on the modern design guidelines in Windows 10 and it is very similar to the mail app. Unlike the mail it has got only two sections, the left section will show the current calendar in the month view along with a taskbar at the bottom and the right section will show the details of events and appointments. The hamburger icon can be used to expand and collapse the left section, when collapsed the text links in the section will be shown as icons in the left bar.

The left section also has a link for creating new events as well as options for opening the mail and feedback app and the options pane. The mail and feedback apps will open in separate window where as the a separate pane will open in the calendar to display the options when clicking on the gear icon.

The Settings pane will have the options for configuring and managing existing accounts as well as various options related to calendar.

Clicking on the accounts link will open a new pane in the same place with a list of already configured accounts as well as a link for creating a new one. To configure a new account click on the Add Account link which will open a new window with a list of support protocols and services. The list of supported services include Outlook, Exchange, Office 365, Google and iCloud. In this case I chose to a configure a Microsoft account and after validating the credentials it will show a successfully created message. When you close the message dialog, you will see all the entries from the newly configured account in the calendar.

The Calendar settings pane has the options for setting First Day of the Week, Working Hours, whether to show Week numbers or not and also option to use lighter/brighter colours when displaying the details in the calendar

To add a new event into the calendar, just click on the New Event link from the left section to open up the window shown below. There you will be able to add details such title description, timings and also option to choose which calendar to add into. Also there are options for formatting the text, setting up remainders and also to invite other persons too. To save the event, click on the Save & Close link in the top which will close the window after saving and updated details will be reflected in the calendar. When you hover the mouse over the link in the calendar, the app will show a pop over menu with minimal info along with a button which will show the complete details in a seperate window

In addition to the month view the app offers additional ones such as Day, Work Week and Week. Also we can configure the lock screen to show detail status notification, live tile in start menu will auto update and will show notifications in action center if we have remainders set up for an event. The app is much more attractive with a consistent look and feel and will be one of most used app in Windows 10

D-10 : The Mail App

Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Another app which made it's debut in Windows 8 was the Mail app and it was one of the most useful one among the apps released with the OS. With Windows 10, it's been rewritten from the scratch to be an universal app with much better experience and features.

The mail app has mainly three sections, the left most one will show the folders in a mail account, the middle one will show the list of mails and the right most one will show contents of the selected mail.

The left portion can be expanded or collapssed by clicking on the hamburger icon as shown below. When you collapse the left menu, all the texts will be replaced with the icons and can clicking on the icons will help you to create new email, select an account and to show folders of the current account.

The left bar also has a task bar at the bottom which has icons for opening the calendar app, feedback app and also to access the options available for mail app. The calendar app and the feedback app will be opened in a seperate windows where as the settings page will be opened inside the mail app only.

The settings page can be accessed by clicking on the gear icon in the left section and in the page you will have the option to account management, reading and misc options.

Adding new account or managing the already created accounts from the Accounts page. When you click on Accounts link in the settings page, it will show the list of already configured account along with a link for configuring a new account in the same place. You can go back to the previous page by clicking on the back button place along side the title.

When you click on the Add Account link, a window will open asking for the type of the account you need to configure. The new app now supports Office 365, Exchange, Google Accounts as well as POP. In this case I chose to configure a Microsoft account, and once it's successfully validates the credentials all your mail start syncing.

The reading pane has the options for setting auto opening of next item as well as how to set an email as read

In the options pane, you will have options for setting up the quick actions which is useful when you are using the app from a touch enabled device. Along with that you will have options for setting up the mail signature or enabling automatic replies.

Now let's look more into details of other two sections, the listing section will have icons for searching the mail, synchronzing mail account and select all option. Other that each individual main item will icons for deleting as well as marking.

When the user click on a mail in the list, the right window will show the contents of the mail along with options for Reply, Reply All, Forward, Delete, Marking as well as additional options such as navigation, printing and zoomin.

New mails can be composed by clicking on the New Email link which will open up a editor in the right pane and editor has got a lot of improvements when compared to Windows 8 app. Along with the formatting option the title bar has links for sending the mail as well as discarding the draft.

This was a small overview of the new mail app, which is definitely faster, better navigation and helps you to manage all emails from one place.

D-11 : Hey Cortana !!

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Cortana is the voice-controlled digital assistant from Microsoft and was introduced in Windows Phone 8. It’s available in select markets only and now makes it’s way into Windows 10. It’s very much integrated into Windows 10, replacing the search bar in Windows 7 and now sit’s in the taskbar. It can search things in the web as well as the local machine, can search for settings and your calendar, create appointments and deliver news that are relevant to you.

When you open Cortana for the first time, it will tell you to set some options like set the name which Cortana will be using to address you, your interests etc. You can skip this and can configure at a later point from the Settings. In markets where Cortana is not supported the experience will revert to what we have in Windows 7. Cortana accepts input by typing in the search bar as well as speech recognition either by clicking on the microphone icon inside the search bar or by saying Hey Cortana first and then preceded by your command. When you click inside the bar, Cortana will show the relevant details if configured, like news, your calendar info, weather info etc.

The hamburger icon will expand the left bar and shows the title along with the text, the options are Home, Notebook, Remainders and Feedback.

The notebook is the place where Cortana keeps track of all the things she knows about you. It’s database is powered by Bing and adds to it as days go by regarding your behaviour and previous searches.

In the about section in Notebook, you can configure the name which Cortana will use to address you as well as your favourite locations.

The settings page in Notebook section can be used to configure various features related to Cortana. Like enabling suggestions, manage what all things needs to be stored in the cloud, also set cortana respond to you only. Consider the scenario that if more than one person is talking in the background then the cortana may produce indifferent results. You can avoid that by setting Cortana respond to your voice only.

Apart from that we can configure settings for each interests individually too. Like for weather we can specify the unit should be Fahrenheit or Celsius and will also be able to add favourite city so that Cortana will show the info more relevant to you. Similarly we can set these options in News, sports, markets etc.

In the remainder page you can add remainders in addition to what Cortana has pulled from your calendar. You can also tell Cortana to set the remainder by speaking into it. You can watch voice commands in action here in this video.

The last option is for sending the feedback to Microsoft, so that the experience can be improved. From the last year alone, we are seeing that they are taking these feedback very seriously and many are getting pushed to the production too

Apart from the app, Cortana is tightly integrated into other apps too in Windows 10. For example take the case of Microsoft Edge, when you search for anything related to weather then Cortana can pop up to show you weather information.

D-12 : Universal Windows App Store

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Windows store was first introduced with Windows Phone and then subsequently with Windows 8. But until now there are two separate store for both phone and the desktop and this is going to change with the launch of Windows 10.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is aiming for a consistent experience across all the devices powered by the new OS and the unified store plays an integral part in the plans. The store app is now a universal app which helps to deliver the uniform experience across phones, tablets and desktops.

The store icon is pinned to the task bar by default and can be accessed from there as well as from the start menu

In line with modern design guidelines the store app has a search bar in the top left portion of the window and the back button in the top right. The profile picture of the connected account and the number of updates available are placed along the search bar. The apps are neatly segregated into various categories and the main navigation bar has got links for Apps, Games, Music and Movies & TV

To view the settings and details about your apps and purchases, click on the profile picture which will pop out a menu with links for Settings, Downloads etc

From the settings page you can configure options for auto updation of apps and to restrict downloads if you are on a metered connection etc

The Downloads page will have two sections, the top section will list all the updates available and the bottom section will list all the app updates which are running. The page will also have a button to manually check for the updates as well as links to Start/Stop all updates at once and also you have the option to do that individually too.

The My Library page will show the list of all apps owned by you across various devices and also it will show the download link if the app is not installed in the device you are on

As the launch date is getting nearer, the web version is also getting the makeover to be in line with app. You can access the web store from here.

D-13 : Oh Where’s My Control Panel? Meet Settings App

Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Another long running application is getting replaced in Windows 10 is the Control Panel which was an integral part of the OS since Windows 2.0. The major change to it came in Windows 8 with a touch optimized app that contained minimal set of features and for majority of the advanced settings the control panel was used. With Windows 10 they are trying to replace the legacy app with the all new universal app and being an universal app helps Microsoft to maintain the settings experience consistent across multiple form factors.

The new app has got a visual refresh in line with the modern design guidelines that’s been followed by Microsoft. We can open the Settings app from the Start menu, Taskbar as well as from the System tray and also using the keyboard shortcut Windows + I.

The overview screen has got very large icons with very minimal information where as in the classic panel the overview page itself has got lot of link under the main category. When you go inside a category, all the sub categories will be listed in the left section and right section will have the details of the selected sub item. The page itself has got of whitespace with big buttons making it touch friendly.

The Settings app will have a search bar the the top right portion of the page and a back button at the top left portion of the page. The search bar can used to search for any options under settings and the back button takes you the previous page. To go the home page you can click on the icon near to the title of the page.

Even though the Settings App is touted as the one stop hub for all the setting in the Windows 10, you shall be able to access the legacy control panel by searching for it. It’s still there because some of the features is not yet ported to new settings app and it’s work in progress. Since the settings app is no more tightly integrated with the core operating system, they will be able to update it via the Windows Store as and when the features are pushed to production

If you want more details about the features in the Settings app, there’s a video hosted in YouTube by Scot Hanselman

D-14 : Universal Apps - Write Once, Run on Multiple Devices

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

These days being an app/web developer is the one of the hardest jobs. One will have to deal to with a lot of user experiences ranging from small phones to smartphones to tablets to desktops to smart tv and even IoT devices running on diverse operating systems. So the developer needs to make a version of the app for all these devices and needs to maintain it seperately. So the tools like Xamarin, Cordova, Kony which helps you to create a hybrid application which can run on multiple devices with a single code base, but it lacks the perfomance of the native apps.

Microsoft was hard at work to bring an universal platform where you write code once and can run on a variety of devices for some time. With Windows 10 it's becoming a reality and with the Universal apps developers will be finally able to write an app once and it will take on a different appearance depending on the device it's running on. This is because with Windows 10, they have converged all their OS platforms into a single, unified core and a single universal store for all the devices. This single core helps your app to run on every device running on Windows 10, be it a desktop, laptop, phone, Xbox or an IoT device.

The universal app platform has capablities like Adaptive UX, Natural Universal Input, Cloud Based Services will help you to quickly build these experiences that are consistent, flexible.

Adaptive UX

Helps you app's UI to adapt at runtime based on the capablities of the device. Also Windows 10 will render appropriate user experience based on how the user is interacting with you app. For example, on a laptop with touch screen, an app will have large touch area if you are using touch as input as compared to when interacting with a mouse.

Natural User Input

Windows 10 supports has got inbuilt support for Natural Speech, inking, gestures and user gaze which will relieve devs from worrying about how to parse the input. You only need to specify which all input methods your app is supporting and Windows 10 will determine if the input is present or not and if it's there it will parse the input for you.

Cloud Based Services

Along with these capablitites Microsoft provides a lot of cloud based services which you can take advantage of in your universal app. With the introduction of new services like Cortana AI, OneDrive, Application Insights, Azure Mobile Serives and Azure Notification Hub along with existing ones like Windows Notification Service and Windows Credential Locker will help you make your app for feature rich.

What you need ?

For developing universal apps you need Visual Studio 2015 which is going to be released worldwide on July 20, 2015 along with Windows App Developement tools which comes along with the bundle running on Windows 10. Untill now we were creating different projects for each device, but with Visual Studio 2015 you will need to create only one project for the all the devices. You can develop your core application first and then handle-device specific elements as layers to the core using the extention SDK for each device type.

Useful links

https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/universal-windows-platform-vs.aspx

http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/04/30/whats-new-in-visual-studio-tools-for-universal-windows-apps/

D-15 : Introducing Virtual Desktops

Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Microsoft is finally introducing virtual desktops in Windows 10 and if you have ever used a Mac OS or Linux then you people doesn't need a second invitation. For those who are not aware of it, virtual desktops helps you to create multiple desktops and it's very nice feature for organizing your tasks. It was one of the most requested feature and I am sure that this is going to be one of the most used feature in Windows 10. It can definitely increase the productivity, for example devs like me tend to open too many windows like Visual Studio for my coding, multiple browsers for testing, mail app, edtiting software and so on. This will lead to cluttering of the desktop and task bar eventhough we have the grouping of apps feature in the taskbar. With virtual desktops you can create differnent desktops for coding, browsing and editing there by decreasing the cluttering of apps in a single desktop.

In Windows 10, the virtual desktop feature is called the Task View and can be accessed from the task bar icon sitting just next to the Cortana. Clicking on the task view will open up the interface with a list containing the open apps in the active desktop as thumbnails. You can also the Windows + Tab key combination to open up the Task View.

Creating a new Desktop

A new desktop can be created by clicking or tapping on the + New Desktop tile in the bottom right corner in Task View. Once the desktop is created it will display all the available desktops in the bar towards the bottom of the Task View interface. Clicking on individual desktop in the Task View will show the list of open apps in that desktop as thumbanails in the top part of the interface.

Desktop & App Switching

Cycling through all the created desktop is very easy is Windows 10, you can either use task view interface or use keyboard shortcuts for switching the desktops. To go to a specific desktop, launch task view from the task bar and click on the desktop you want to go to in the bottom bar. The transition from one desktop to another is silky smooth and you will notice that too.

You can use Windows + Ctrl + Right Arrow and Windows + Ctrl + Left Arrow to switch between next and previous ones. When you use the key combination, the task view won't be visible instead the desktops will be ease in from left or right based on the key combination you pressed.

Users will be able to move apps from one desktop to another desktop too. Whenever you launch an application it will open in the active desktop. To transfer the app to another app, open the Task View and right click on the window you want to move. The context menu will have the option for moving as well as closing the window. When you click on the Select To option , it will show you the list of available desktops as well as a link to create a new desktop, choose the option you want and the window will be moved to that desktop.

Closing Desktops.

Closing of the desktops can be done from the Task view. To close one, just hover the mouse over the desktop you want to close in the bottom bar, a cross icon will appear. Just click on that to close the desktop. So you will be wondering that what will happen to all the open windows in that desktop. If you think all the windows will be closed along with the desktop, then no it won't be. All the open windows in the desktop will be moved automatically to the just previous desktop.

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows + Tab -> To open task view
Windows + Ctrl + D -> Creates new desktop
Windows + Ctrl + F4 -> Closes the active desktop
Windows + Ctrl + Right/Left Arrow -> Navigate to previous or next desktops

D-16 : The All New Action Center

Sun, 12 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Another feature from the smaller cousin making it’s way into Windows 10 is the Action Center. First introduced with Windows Phone 8, Action Center is the notification center which acts as a universal hub for notifications to the user and quick settings. Be it a calendar remainder or twitter notifications or new emails in your inbox, you can access those all in one single place instead of going to each and every app. Also it sync automatically with other devices connected to the same account.

The Action Center has two sections, the one at the top will display notifications from various apps and bottom section willl have all the qucik action buttons. The notification area will display all the notifications such as Twitter, Mail, Facebook and it shows notifications from you phone apps too like Alarms.

By default the notifications will be segregated by apps and the user will be able to either remove the notification by clicking on the X icon or can go to the details by clicking on the item. Also a down arrow will appear to reveal more details in the Action Center itself, for example in the case of Alarm notifications it will show snooze and dispose buttons so that user can action on the item then and there itself. Also the user can clear all the notification at once by clicking on the Clear All link at the top in Action Center.

Quick Actions

The quick actions will have four buttons by default in normal mode and clicking on the Expand link will show you more buttons. Some of the buttons like WiFi, Tablet Mode will act as toggle buttons, meaning the user will be able to turn on/off by a single tap and tapping on some buttons like All Settings will open up the Settings page.

Configuring Quick Actions

The quick action list can be configures from the Choose your Quick Actions page under Settings -> Systems -> Notifications & Actions. In this page you will see the four buttons which are already configured. To change any one, just click on the button which will show list from where you can select

Configuring Notifications

In the same section itself you will have additional options for Action center like turning off tips about windows or app noticifcation etc. If we turn off App notifications, then Windows won't show notifications from any off the apps. Also there are options to selectively choose which apps can show notifications too. This can be set from the Show notifications from these apps list

The notification section also has options for cleaning up the task bar too. Options like "Select which icons to appear in the taskbar" help the user the set the icons according to his desire and "Turn System Icons On or Off" will help the users to turn on or off icons like System Clock, Input Indicator etc

D-17 : Login Options in Windows 10

Sat, 11 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Apart from the normal login screen that’s been there Windows 7, Microsoft has include lot of other alternatives in Windows 10. It will include support for facial, iris and finger print recognition provided your desktop/laptop/tablet/phone has necessary sensors. They have built in another feature codename “Passport” which will hep the users to setup a pin for their account which can be used for logging in to the system instead of the password in the login screen.

The classic login screen will have all new icons for network, accessibility and power and the password field will have an arrow icon which acts as the submit button.

1. Windows Hello

The new biometric framework is called Windows Hello which is built in to the operation systems and that means user will get a consistent user experience regardless of the vendor who has developed the hardware. It can also be used to authenticate not only Windows but also applications, business applications as well websites bypassing the login. Also all the biometric data is stored locally only and not on Microsoft’s servers there by avoiding the privacy concerns. Microsoft uses a combination special hardware and software which will prevent fake log in attempts like using a photo to verify a user. Also it’s an opt-in feature meaning it’s turned off by default and can be enabled from the Settings page.

2. Passport

According to Microsoft, Passport is a code name for the programming system that IT Manager, software developers and website authors can use to provide a more secure way of letting you sign in to their sites or apps. The primary purpose of these two technologies is to unseat Passwords as the primary method for protecting personal information which is becoming vulnerable these days and also its very difficult to remember all those passwords which we will be having for different sites. In Windows 10, technologies such as Passport will help you to authenticate websites and applications without sending the password there by reducing risk of compromising it during an exploit by a hacker in the server.

3. Switching to Local Account

I have selected the Microsoft Account as my login during the installation and now for switching to local account can be done from Settings -> Accounts -> Your Account

4. Changing Password

You can change password from Settings -> Accounts - Sign in Options

5. Setting up Picture Password

You can set picture password from Settings -> Accounts - Sign in Options

6. Setting up PIN

You can set pin from Settings -> Accounts - Sign in Options

Once you are finished with setting up pin and picture password, your login screen will list out all three and you can select any one of them to login to the system.

D-18 : Bye Bye Internet Explorer, Hello Edge

Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

Microsoft is making a major change with the browser in Windows 10, it's been a major pain point for them since the modern web era which in turn conceded the ground to players like Firefox and Chrome. So they decided to replace IE with a modern browser in Windows 10. First announced in January with code name Spartan, it was built from the scratch and was based on Edge, the rendering engine of IE but devoid of all the old stuff that was their for compatibility with older technologies. Later they branded the browser as Edge and with a slight tweak to the existing logo, introduced it the world during the Build 2015 developer conference. I feel they should have given a new logo to get rid of the negativity surrounding IE.

1. Design

The browser is lighter, faster and does have a minimalist flat design in accordance with Microsoft's modern design principles. It has got very little chrome and simple icons won't distract users from the content of the websites and it won't take long for the users to get in love with it.

2. Reading View

This is another feature in the browser which will strip all the ads, removes irrelavant styles and images and produces a clean readable version oaf the page. This mode can be activated by clicking on open book icon in the address bar. Also there are options available for changing the size of the font and viewing styles.

3. Cortana

Cortana the personal digital assistant in Windows 10 is much more integrated in to the OS and Edge is also not left behind. To activate it just right click on the select text in the page and choose "Ask Cortana". A slide out will appear which will be showing the relevant information about the text.

4. Reading List

Another new feature is the Reading List and it's quite different from the Favourite option what we had till now in IE. Normally we add links to the favourites if we are visiting the link more frequently or widely used. So if you just want ot bookmark the page to read it later at some point of time, you can make use of the Reading List feature.

5. Page Annotations

This is one of the unique feature in Edge when compared to the competitiors. It will allow you to annotate or highlight text right on the page itself and also helps you to share your marking right from the page itself. Gone are the days when you take a screenshot of the page, edit it with paint and sends as email from your email client, you can do all this from the Edge itself without leaving the page.

6. Extentions Support

This was one of the major feature lacking in IE. They get rid of ActiveX model of extention support which creating a lot security as well as performance issues and now there is no support for VB Script, Toolbars, BHO or ActiveX. Instead of they are working on extensiblity provided by HTML5 based on the HTML/JS based extention model.

7. Performance

Intial performance tests shown that the Edge and Chrome are neck and neck and in some cases better too. Anyway when compared with IE, it is miles ahead and definitely faster, more fluid.

Microsoft Edge is already beating IE, Chrome and Firefox in JavaScript benchmarks

8. Edge is an App

Earlier IE was tightly integrated into the OS, making upgrades/changes to the browser was a painful task as well as very time consuming. With Edge they made it an universal app which is available in the store too. Another advantage is that they can upadate Edge through store updates more frequently

D-19 : The All New Start Menu

Thu, 09 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

The Start menu which was introduced with Windows 95 is making a comeback in Windows 10. Microsoft was in line of fire for replacing the Start menu with the Start Screen in Windows 8. It was good for a touch screen device but not for a device attached to a keyboard and mouse. Microsoft did tried to lessen the damage by introducting the option to boot to desktop in Windows 8.1, users were not all intereseted in the Start Screen. It soon became an abandoned area in the OS as time went on.

In Windows 10, Microsoft went through a lot of iterations to the Start menu in various builds and as we move closer to the launch we are seeing the one which will be released to manufacturing. The familar icon reclaims it's position in the task bar and the shortcut key also remains the same.

1. Bigger, Wider Start Menu

The menu will have mainly two sections, the left section may appear similar to the one in Windows 7 but it has got much more and second sections contains live tiles of various universal apps in the system. The context menu is retained from Windows 8.1 and can be accessed by right clicking on the Start button. The top left portion will display a picture of the logged in user with their name, followed by a list of most recetly used apps. It's followed by the links for File Explorer, Settings, Power and lastly the All Apps link. On the right side will have the default store apps likw Music, Edge, Search whose size can be resized.

Clicking on an app in the menu will provide a context menu which will have options like Pinning app in the start menu or task bar, uninstall, open file location etc. Also apart from Run as Administrator option, Run as Different User option is a seperate action item in the context menu.

2. Pinning Apps to Start Menu and Task Bar.

It's pretty easy to do that in Windows 10, click on the All Apps link, right click on the app that needs to be pinned on the start screen and then select "Pin to Start" from the context menu which place the live tile in the start screen. You will be able to pin both modern apps as well as classic apps in the start screen. To pin the app to the task bar, just click on the "Pin to Taskbar" option

3. Resizing apps

To resize a pinned tile in the Start menu, just right click on the tile to bring up the context menu and select any of the option in the sub menu(small, medium, large, wide) from the resize option.

Users can also the turn on/off the live tile information by clicking on the "Turn Live tile Off/On" from the context menu. Once you choose to turn it off then the live won't show any notifications or information in the tile in the Start menu.

4. Removing Apps from the Recent list

Items in the most recent list can be removed by choosing the "Don't show in this list" option in the context menu which can accessed by right clicking on the link for the app.

5. Customizing Quick Access List.

By default, the quick access list will have links for File Explorer, Settings and Power. The users has the ability to customize the list in Start Section under Personalization page in the Settings app. There from the list of apps user can decide which ones to show and which ones to hide.

6. Tile Sections

Like in Windows 8.1, users will have the ability to categorize the apps in the Start Screen. For creating a new category, click and hold a tile until a black bar shows up and then drop the tile below the bar. Clicking on the bar will show a text box where you can type in the name for the category. To edit an already created one, just click on the tile and a text box will be shown where users will be able to modify the text.

7.Customizing the Start Menu

In the Settings app there is a section for Start menu under Personalization page where you can do of tweaking and customization to the start menu. Like customizing the list, start behaviours as well as color schemes for the menu

8. All Apps

The All Apps link is similar to the All Programs option in the prior versions of Windows. The difference here is that when the user clicks on the link instead of opening a new section to the right, it will display the list in the same left section of the menu with a back link in the bottom to go back. Also the items will be segegrated into categories by name and click on the category name will show a jump list. Windows phone OS had this experience since its inception and now it makes an entry in to the larger cousin too

D-20 : What's new in Windows 10

Wed, 08 Jul 2015 19:00:00 GMT

As you all know Windows 10 is going to be released worldwide on July 29 and through this series of posts, I will be posting about a number of features and changes coming to the new OS.

And the much talked about features are..

1. Start Menu makes a comeback !!!

This was one of the most requested features in the uservoice forums since the launch of Windows 8 and finally Microsoft has responded to the criticisms by bringing it back. They haven't gone back to experience that we had in Windows 7, but introduced a new user interface with the modern UI and managed to include both the apps and old program list in one place.

2. Say Hello to Cortana

Cortana is the name of the personal digital assistant from Microsoft which was first introuduced in Windows Phone makes a appearance in Windows 10. In Window 10, Cortana is plugged to Windows Search, which means you will be able to use Cortana to search your file system as well as in One Drive, to search for settings in the OS by speaking directly or by typing in the area provided in the task bar.

3. Good Bye Internet Explorer

Microsoft finally decided to part ways with Internet Explorer which was like an achilles heel to them in modern web era. Windows 10 introduces Edge, a new web browser built from the scratch for the modern web. Codenamed Project Spartan is already making making it's presence felt in varoius benchmarking tests and it comes with features like flat design, brand new rendering engine, Cortana integration and much more

4. Virtual Desktops

Yet another long requested fetaure is being introuduced introduced with Window 10, now the users will be able to create more than one desktop and can use the Alt + Tab combination to switch between them. Also users will be able to move applications from one desktop to another and if you have tend to have a lot of open windows at a time, this will help you finally avoid the taskbar cluttering.

5. Univerasal Apps

The developers will now be able to use single code base for all the apps targeting desktop, tablet, phone and even IoT devices. And also Microsoft have revamped the built in apps like Calendar, Mail, Photos as Universal Apps with new design language and lot of features

6. Notification Center

With Windows 10, the charms bar is now gone and is replaced with the all new notification center coined as Action Center which will show notification as well as will have quick access buttons for Wi-Fi, Display, Location etc. The user needs to click on the icon in the task bar to bring it up, there by avoiding the auto pop out feature with the Charms bar which was very annoying to many users.

7. Settings App

The Settings app will act as the central location for all the settings for the device and will be going to eventually replace the Control Panel. Again it's a universal app and will share the same look and feel and functionality across various devices.

8. Gaming

Windows 10 will come with a built in app for XBOX that let's you access your activity field, friends list and messages. The app also helps you to record your game play for any Windows App. Windows 10 will allow users to stream their games to PC as well, the game will be running on the console and video will be played in your monitor or TV which will streamed using your Wi-Fi network

9. Continuum

This will a unique feature in Windows 10 which will help you to switch back and forth between Touchscreen, mouse and keyboard seemlessly. Windows 10 has got two modes for convertibles, tablet and desktop and based on the devices attached it will turn on the appropriate mode. For example, in the case of Surface tablet, if a keyboard is docked to the device then the mode will be desktop and if we undocks it then it will be reverted to tablet mode which works very well with touch input.

10. It's Free

Yeah, you heard it right. Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 for free for all the people having a valid Windows 7/8 liceneses. Right now there are lot of confusion about the upgrade path and who all gets it, but those who are having a valid license will get it free for the first year. That menas if you are doing the upgrade a year after Windows 10 launch, you will need to pay for the licenese

I will be following up on this coming days and expect more about Windows till the launch day !!!!