Expression Web is a professional design tool that helps you create and work with:
Standards-based Web sites
Sophisticated CSS-based layouts
Extensive CSS formatting and management
Rich data presentation
Powerful ASP.NET 2.0-based technology
Download BETA
Try It Free! Expression Web Beta 1
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/web_designer/wd_free_trial.aspx
Try It Free! Graphic Designer Sept. CTP
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/graphic_designer/gd_free_trial.aspx
Try It Free! Interactive Designer Sept. CTP
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/interactive_designer/id_free_trial.aspx
Digital Sandbox: Expression Virtual Labs
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=5393763
Demo
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/demos.mspx?v=expression_vision
Michael Swanson lists down Windows Presentation Foundation Tools and Controls.
From Microsoft
Expression Interactive Designer
Cider
Expression Graphic Designer
Other
ZAM 3D
Xaml Export Script for Blender
Adobe Fireworks to WPF/XAML Exporter
LightWave to XAML Converter
Aurora
Maya To XAML
Online Converter from 3ds to XAML
Adobe Illustrator to WPF/XAML Export Plug-In
Found an excellent article by Wei-Meng Lee “An Overview of Windows Presentation Foundation” in Code Magazine which explains :
- Why Windows Presentation Foundation?
- Building User Interfaces using XAML
- Layouts
- Building WPF Applications using Visual Studio 2005
- Programmatically Generating the WPF UI
- 2-D Graphics
- 3-D Graphics
- Imaging
- Data-Binding
Thanks Lee for this great article!!
Essential reading of WPF Fundamentals on MSDN Windows SDK for Windows Presentation. This includes :
WPF Architecture
XAML
Base Elements
Element Tree and Serialization
Properties
Events
Input and Commands
Resources
Styles and Templates
WPF Fundamentals: Content Models
Threading Model
Security
A tutorial that helps you quickly start to use Windows Presentation Foundation.
If you are looking for implementing best accessibility practice for WPF; here are good notes on Windows SDK MSDN.
Read more here.
Programmatic Access
Enable Programmatic Access to all UI Elements and Text
Place Names, Titles and Descriptions on UI Objects, Frames and Pages
Ensure Programmatic Events are Triggered by all UI Activities
User Settings
Respect all System-Wide Settings and do not Interfere with Accessibility Functions
Visual UI Design
Don’t Hard-Code Colors
Support High Contrast and all System Display Attributes
Ensure all UI Correctly Scales by any DPI Setting
Navigation
Provide Keyboard Interface for all UI Elements
Show the Keyboard Focus
Support Navigation Standards and Powerful Navigation Schemes
Do not let Mouse Location Interfere with Keyboard Navigation
Multimodal Interface
Provide User-Selectable Equivalents for Non-Text Elements
Use Color but also Provide Alternatives to Color
Use Standard Input APIs with Device-Independent Calls
You can make the most of the globalization and localization functionality that is built into Windows Presentation Foundation by following the UI design and localization-related tips that this section provides.
Read more on WPF Blog
Getting Started with Windows Presentation Foundation
Class Library Reference
Samples
Tools
Windows Presentation Foundation SDK blog
Just because your laptop or desktop screen is flat, that doesn’t mean that the graphics and the experience have to be flat too—particularly the 3D Internet.
- By Ron DeSerranno
What is GSE?
GSE is a game development environment for Visual Studio. GSE is provided to the community to stimulate a healthy hobbyist and student game development ecosystem. By having a common (and free) platform people can develop, learn and share games and code libraries.
Where can GSE created games run?
Currently on Windows computers. Next they will be able to run on Xbox 360 systems. Beyond that, the imagination is the limit. Keeping in mind that basic graphics services and 3D rendering are needed.
What’s the best way to get started?
- Install Visual C# Express.
- Then install GSE.
- Open Visual C# Express and Create New Project.
- Choose “Space Wars Project”
Keep reading more on Richard Bailey’s Blog.
Download
XNA GSE – Free Game Development Tools
