Hello, Ryan Dawson has written up a blog story titled "Avalon Knock-Offs Don't Make the Cut".
Ryan writes: Lately I have been testing the Avalon knock-offs, VG.Net and Xamlon, to name the ones I am aware of. I would have to say that I am pretty impressed by what both companies have done. They are both in release about a year after the initial PDC that started it all, and they both seem to be healthy. Xamlon is going more for the ultimate compatibility road to Avalon, while VG.NET is more about having the best platform while borrowing ideas from Avalon and XAML. To both companies, I like what you are doing, but I think you both miss the boat; here is what people want: 1. People aren't going to switch to Avalon for XAML. Not a chance. It just happens to be a neat serialization format that is easy-to-use for designers (the software type). Also, it can double as a text-based programming language (like HTML) which means it simplifies development for trivial tasks. On the other hand, you guys have put so much time and effort into having compatibility and what not with Avalon, and I think it's a waste of time. It reminds me of a post by Rory where he explains how everyone on SourceForge spends so much time setting up the license type and administrative details, but they never get around to actually writing a product. 2. Vector graphics are cool and everything…but, not by themselves. Vectors are great because they have scalability. Although, it only works if you can get everything vector-ized. A vector graphic sitting in the background of my application is never something that I have wanted. Granted that bitmaps don't scale, I am happy using them for background transparent images, and they work great. So, bringing the ability to put a vector image in my application is nonsense. What I want are controls that are completely vector-ized, period. 3. One of the biggest keys to productivity that the .Net Framework does not currently (<= 1.1) have is a state of the art layout engine. This is by far one of the biggest keys to development of a UI. The amount of dumb code that I used to write for resizing and layout was huge. It reminds me of type mapping for databases to CLR types. Both are dumb code and very error prone. I didn't see a layout engine in either of these products. I may have just not noticed it, but that is a huge mistake on both parts. Huge. 4. I want a custom TextBox. That is all. When I get that, I will go back to my corner and never say another thing again. The same applies to all controls, but the TextBox is the worst since it is drawn by Windows. Back to the vector point; people don't want vector graphics, they want controls -those are what compose applications, not stupid pictures. On the simple side, I just want controls with borders that are anything but square (and no, simply setting the Region property is not good enough, it's too rough). Rounded is in. Just like any designer will tell you - ebony is the new black. Round is the new square. 5. Both companies went after animation (Xamlon for 3D, VG.Net for 2D – more like Avalon). Animation is great, although, again, animation of stupid little pictures is the biggest feature that people will not put into their programs. People want menus that use cool animation (gravity) - or any feature that opens and closes; or the way controls populate and de-populate a form – like expose for Mac. Simple animations will not cut it unless you have a full support through the platform. I don't want to sound like a jerk…but, they both should have just teamed up and wrote a new composition engine where they could get everything right. I mean, it's a hard problem without solving some platform issues. I only mentioned things that I know are possible using GDI+ and .NET. These don't include things that Avalon (itself) is going to have a hard time with on XP. If I have anything wrong, please correct me! Source: http://www.longhornblogs.com/rdawson/archive/2004/10/04/5807.aspx Do you agree with Ryan or is Ryan all wrong? Let us know what you think. - Gerald --------------------------- Gerald Bauer Rich Client Conference (RichCon) 2005 - http://richcon.com XUL News Wire - http://xulnews.com ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: IT Product Guide on ITManagersJournal Use IT products in your business? Tell us what you think of them. Give us Your Opinions, Get Free ThinkGeek Gift Certificates! Click to find out more http://productguide.itmanagersjournal.com/guidepromo.tmpl _______________________________________________ xul-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xul-talk
