In addition to doing Silverlight the other set of updates I’m focusing in on relate to the Sales OBA project up on CodePlex: http://obasales.codeplex.com/

I just made some minor updates to the source code for the custom Excel Spreadsheet on the site – mainly cleaning up the code and  adding some comments.  My goal is to start replicating some of the current C# projects with VB versions… of course the Excel spreadsheet is already in VB, so once I get the VB versions of the other projects I’ll loop back around and be updating the Excel spreadsheet with C# and the other C# projects for Visual Studio 2010…  I’m leveraging a tool that I like for this process and I’m going to talk about it tomorrow.

This isn’t going to be a quick process but it does mean you’ll continue to see some new sample materials related to the Professional OBA book (http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Office-Business-Application-Development/dp/0470377313/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238107346&sr=8-1)  My target is once I’ve completed my Silverlight project – discussed in my preceding post, I’ll move to the generation of Word Documents using the XML structure created for the OBA Sales project… rest assured I’ll post something when I make a new upload.

So yesterday I posted on the newly arrived guidance examples for Prism 2.0, the Patterns and Practices guidance (announced here: http://blogs.msdn.com/blaine/archive/2009/03/25/vb-quickstarts-and-how-to-s-now-available-for-prism.aspx and her: http://blogs.msdn.com/bobbrum/archive/2009/03/24/composite-application-guidance-for-wpf-and-silverlight-now-in-vb-flavor.aspx)

The 2.0 version of Prism was an update which made changes to take the original WPF framework and provide best practices support for Silverlight. That guidance of course is associated with the Prism 2.0 which has an associated CodePlex site here: http://www.codeplex.com/CompositeWPF/ The site not only provides valuable links associated with Prism but a forum for discussing specific issues.  

In addition to these new VB examples there is an update to the Silverlight Toolkit, the March 2009 release is enhanced with Visual Basic source code for both Silverlight 2 and Silverlight 3. The Toolkit is a collection of controls, components and utilities made available outside the normal Silverlight release cycle.

It includes full source code, unit tests, samples and documentation for 18 new controls covering charting, styling, layout, and user input, in addition to 11 professional themes. I’ve been assured that the team loves feedback so join the forums on Silverlight .NET and submit suggestions to their CodePlex site. 

Me I’m off to do a Silverlight addition to this site to demonstrate I can do some VB Silverlight… hopefully I’ll have it up and running in a few days.

For those considering Silverlight, the Microsoft Patterns and Practices Team has a set of recommendations with sample code.  Originally released in C#, Version 2.0 is adding sample support (the guidance is essentially the same for both languages) for Visual Basic.  A copy of the updated guidance with VB specific examples is available at:

Visual Basic QuickStarts and How-to Topics for the Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight

Download a copy - I am.

A while back I blogged that if you were buying a new PC you should purchase a 64-bit machine.  "The rise and fall of 32 bit computing"  I stand by that but as part of that post I quickly mentioned that I also felt that if you were purchasing a new machine you should also get it pre-installed with Vista and not Windows XP.  In fact my personal view is that those computer manufacturers who are allowing people to continue to purchase machines with Windows XP instead of Vista are in the long run hurting their customers.

Let me explain, Microsoft is working on the next version of Windows which will be known as Windows 7.  In fact the Beta for this version of Windows is already available and I've installed it on a machine at my home.  It works great and is definitely a few steps ahead of what's in Vista in many ways.  In terms of features Windows 7 will be an evolution not a revolution.

What I mean by that is that unlike Vista which was a major departure from the Windows XP architecture, Windows 7 will maintain the core Vista architecture.  This is important because it really draws out the fact that Vista isn't something that's 'going away'.  Windows 7 is the next generation of Vista - not XP - and this is important.  Part of the core of what changed between Windows XP and Windows Vista was the device driver model.

Unfortunately when Vista released, it wasn't advertised, that because of the low level changes in the driver architecture and since there were only a limited number of drivers - that upgrading from XP to Vista had a huge risk in terms of driver compatibility.  The result was that in addition to the standard acceptance issues that any new UI experiences Vista had hardware issues - Big issues.  Fact is the combination of these issues resulted in the need for Microsoft to allow computer manufacturers to continue to ship XP.

That was probably overkill - but when you make a mistake as big as the one Microsoft made in not advertising the limitations of Vista upgrades you pay a penalty.  Microsoft paid theirs now the goal is to avoid getting caught up in that issue.  With its service packs the fact is that Vista is both stable and in my honest opinion a really good operating system.  I still won't ever go back to one of my old XP machines and attempt to upgrade from XP to Vista - but I also know I'm not going back to any of those machines and upgrading them to Windows 7 either.  Those machines were designed for XP and they work well with it and that's how they'll retire.

On the other hand when I bought my new laptop I got it preinstalled with Vista.  This means I got all of the Vista compatible drivers pre-installed by Dell.  Dell supports those drivers and I know everything is compatible.  For what it's worth, yes I got a 64 bit laptop (6 GB of RAM), and it's the Studio XPS 16 and it rocks.

The key is when Windows 7 arrives I'll go ahead and upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 and I don't expect to have any major issues.  Windows 7 adds new features and enhancements to my operating system but it isn't going to require a different set of drivers or any other major configuration changes.  Having installed the Beta of Windows 7 on my test machine from the Vista install timeframe I found the experience to be greatly improved.  The original Vista on that machine choked - plain and simple I lost sound drivers, all kinds of stuff just wasn't quite right.  Not only that but the network card didn't work... so when I got the Beta 7 bits I installed it.  I still didn't have a network card, but I had some free time so I went out and found the driver for the network card and installed it.  Windows 7 installed it no problem and suddenly I was off.  Windows 7 recognized the sound card and connected online to download the necessary driver, not just that driver but many other drivers.

So back to the question - should you get XP or Vista on that new PC?  Get Vista, because when Windows 7 comes out it's building on a Vista baseline.  You'll be able to take that Vista machine and upgrade it with minimal risk to Windows 7.  On the other hand if you have XP, well that isn't currently a supported upgrade.  What I've seen on the web is that you'll need to get rid of your windows XP environment and then install Windows 7 from scratch.  That alone should make you think twice about what you are going to have installed on your new computer - get Vista, regardless of what you heard about the initial release - it's a solid operating system at this point and is the basis of Windows 7 and future operating systems from Microsoft.

UPDATE: OK before Ileave any misconceptions,  in the last paragraph I said "supported upgrade".  That phrase has a specific meaning to Microsoft and that's NOT what I meant.  I meant that instead of installing Windows 7 on top of an existing Windows XP installation you would be starting the installation from ground zero - the upgrade is 'supported' just not what most of us would think of as an 'upgrade' as compared to a 'new install'.

I'm in Seattle, WA this week at the Microsoft MVP Global Summit.  Tonight was the kick-off and it was a great opportunity to catch up with many of the other MVPs I've met over the years.  My thanks again to Serge of VB City who provided an excellent event tonight at Rock Bottom.  Serge and I are looking to meet again later this week to discuss one of his products "Code It Right" so that I can put together a review of this Visual Studio Add-In.

I know I mentioned a month back that I felt it was time for those looking to get a new computer to be certain to get Vista and not XP.  I'll quickly add that when I wrote that post I had already ordered my new laptop with the 64-bit version of Vista, and it works great.  There's more to the story, however as part of the MVP Summit we'll be hearing some information related to the next version of Windows, Windows 7.  As a result I'm going to hold off on my discussion of Vista for a few days - I won't be reiterating what I'll hear at the Summit since much of that information is covered by Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), but I want to be certain to include any announcements - that might be public - are included.

So in the process of setting up my demonstration virtual machine for VSLive I pulled down the materials from the CodePlex site for OBA Sales.  What I realized in the process was that the custom database wasn't included in the materials.  Fortunately as I noted in my earlier post a copy of the database was available from the Wrox site.

I was able this morning to get a new copy of the AdventureworksVSTO database uploaded.  It's a .bak backup file that you will need to restore and it was zipped before uploading.  The download is now significantly larger.

Next updating the current XML web service to be a full on WCF service to generate the documents.  I'll let you know when it's ready.

Beth Massi posted a quick update on some of what was happening at VS Live this year.  Unfortunately she linked to my historical blog site at InterKnowlogy, but she had some great insight into VS Live.

Thanks to those who attended my session on working with VSTO and SharePoint today at VS Live!  As a reminder all of the code associated with my session is available for download from CodePlex.  Keep in mind that you'll need to update the connection strings in each of the projects (excluding the OFR project which doesn't connect to the database) in order to run the code locally.

The sample database associated with the applications isn't currently part of the CodePlex project, however I will update a copy this weekend after I get back from San Francisco.  Currently you can get a copy of the baseline database from the Wrox site associated with the Professional Office Business Application Development: Using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and VSTO book.

If you've been keeping track of Nerd Notes and or are familiar with me you may be aware that I previously worked with Interknowlogy.  We have chosen to part ways, as a result any email sent to bsheldon@interknowlogy.com or bills@interknowlogy.com email addresses I've used for years will instead be read by someone else at interknowlogy.  I'm currently in the process of getting myself set up both here on the newly hosted NerdNotes as well as on Live.

If you are looking to reach me please contact me at WSheldon at Live . com.

Back in the late nineties we experienced a transition from 16-bit to 32-bit computing.  The transition was neither smooth nor particularly drawn out.  Currently we are in another transition – this one from 32-bit to 64-bit computing, and this time the transition will for the near term be much smoother and much slower.  The reality is this transition started a couple years ago, but the reason I’m now writing a post about it is that in my opinion, if you are considering a new PC, the point of transition has been crossed – purchase a 64-bit version of the desktop or laptop you are considering.

To clarify, except in a very small number of cases that I will address, you should be purchasing a 64-bit PC if you are purchasing a new PC.  Yes, Dell and others will continue to carry 32-bit machines for the foreseeable future, but whether you are a generic PC owner, or more importantly a developer it’s time to order a 64-bit machine.  The reality is that as the world continues to move forward the new development money is on 64-bit applications and slowly even devices.  In fact it is the plethora of hand-held devices which will slow the eventual end of 32 bit computing for a little longer but even handhelds will begin that transition at some point in the near future.

Right now pretty much with the exception of the mobile device world, the development world is focused on 64-bit computing (not 100% but increasing every day).  With 64-bits I can have much more than 2 GB of active memory.  Since the maximum value that can be stored in a 32-bit integer is 2GB and since you have to have a number to address each bit in memory this is the cause of the memory limitation. While the operating system can help to fake out this limit  through a few tricks,(for another 1 or 2 GB) the reality is that your application environment has a 2 GB memory cap on a 32-bit OS.  Plus given the power of that 64 bit machine you can run any vital 32-bit applications in a virtual environment and probably still be getting an upgrade in performance.

The question: What are the cases where I shouldn’t purchase a 64-bit machine?  Well if you need and let me stress need as in, must have to do my job, a new laptop and you are working to write software for a 32-bit device (such as a mobile device or the Microsoft Surface) then you can justify getting a new 32-bit machine for that purpose.  Similarly, if you have certain devices like an external scanner or high end printer and their drivers are 32-bit then you’ll probably want to keep a 32-bit machine available to run those devices.  A good overview of the information related to 64-bit limitations is available here: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/41531554-d5ef-4f2c-8fb9-149bdc5c8a701033.mspx#EEAAC

However, in general while this transition will be smoother than the previous 16-bit to 32-bit transition in the long run it will be just as terminal for the 32-bit machines and software.  What timeframe am I talking – well Microsoft is talking about supporting COM based computing past 2020 although I suspect most of that support will be migrated to environments running on a 64-bit machine in a 32-bit virtual environment. I'm not proclaiming the death of 32-bit systems, rather looking at where things are headed in the next couple years.  After all I’m not making a recommendation based on when 32-bit won’t be available or useful, but for what you SHOULD be doing if buying a new system now. 

My core recommendation is to purchase 64-bit on any new PC, I don’t care if it’s for your Mom or a high-end developer / computer gamer – it’s time to order a 64-bit machine.  As for me, well just before Christmas I ordered my in-laws a new PC, like most casual users they have a 5-10 year turn around on a PC and sure enough there in the very reasonable price range for desktops were an array of 64-bit machines and that’s what they got.  So in case you are wondering yes I am following this same suggestion for myself, because in 2-3 years 32 bit PCs will be a thing of the past and people will talk about supporting them for legacy applications that they haven’t yet managed to port to the 64 bit environment.  After all little by little we are even approaching the point where the current internet address system (IP) will transition to a 64-bit version.  You may need to keep the old computer around so you can print if you printer driver isn't supported but don't let a printer drag you into a PC which will be obsolete the day you buy it, you'll replace that at some point to and guess what - all the new ones support... 64-bit drivers.

By the way if you are getting a new PC, definitely get Vista – the XP downgrade is just that but I’ll put my justification for that recommendation in another post.