Today I found some time to upgrade my dasBlog version to 1.9.6264.0. The upgrade is straightforward as described in [1], however I lost the comments on the articles for some unknown reasons.

[1] http://www.dasblog.info/SetupInstall.aspx

Another new download featureing WPF examples [1].

"The Panel is the place to collect showcases of new user experiences and provide insights on how they were implemented. WPF applications and Windows Live gadgets are featured."

[1] http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6515578

Here we go, the Windows SDK Update for Vista [1]:

"The Microsoft® Windows® Software Development Kit (SDK) Update for Windows Vista provides documentation, samples, header files, libraries, and tools designed to help you develop Windows applications using both native (Win32) and managed (.NET Framework) technologies. This release of the SDK supplies"

[1] http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6515574

Ther are two versions of the Windows SDK out there. The fist one is a .iso download [1], the second one the Web setup [2]. They should be the same, however the .iso is version 5.0 while the Web setup is version is Orcas_March07CTP...

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...
[2] http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...

Just tripped over the Reflector Add-In Repository [1] on CodePlex. Very valuable add-ins for my favorite .NET tool [2].

[1] http://www.codeplex.com/reflectoraddins
[2] http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet/

Coming back from Redmond I found the Visual Studio Update for Vista RTM [1] available.

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...

There was not a lot of time for writing during the last few weeks. So there was none to read. Consequently, I have to catch up with my in-box.

After years of using Windows XP I got used to some additional features provided by Microsoft Windows XP Powertoys [1]. Coming with a couple of new features I still missing some very essential tools for my daily work. The two things I miss the most are Open Command Window Here and Image Resizer.

[Update 26/02/2007]

Eric [2] just pointed out, pressing shift while clicking a folder in Explorer brings up the Open Command Window then.

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
[2] http://research.microsoft.com/ero/people.aspx

Currently I have started a new project and I am looking into some geo-related projects. NASA World Wind 1.4 [1] is now available. World wind makes massive usage of .NET and DirectX and runs quite smooth under windows Vista. The data is also provided by Microsoft Research TerraServer-USA [2], hosting aerial photography and topographic maps.

Unfortunately, TerraServer provides only United States Geologically Survey (USGGS) data. Better images for local European location can be accessed using the Virtual Earth plug-in [3], available from [4]. A video of Virtual Earth in World wind can be found at [5].  Unfortunately, the plug-in does not seem to work with the latest World Wind version.

[Update 24/02/2007]

With the updated plug-in for version 1.4 available at [3] also the Virtual Earth data can be displayed.

[1] http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/
[2] http://terraserver.microsoft.com/
[3] http://www.worldwindcentral.com/wiki/Add-on:Virtual_Earth
[4] http://www.brains-n-brawn.com/default.aspx?vDir=veworldwind 
[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oidt5SgfwJw

Windows Mobile Device Center 6 is available for download [1].

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx