New Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Released

Volume seven of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIRv7) - part of Microsoft's commitment to providing an unparalleled level of security intelligence to help keep individuals and organizations better informed and to maximize security investments - was released today and there are a couple of tidbits in the report that caught my attention that I thought I would pass on. As a reminder, the SIR is published by Microsoft twice per year and looks at the data and trends observed in the first and second halves of each calendar year. The first thing that struck me while reading through the report is that for the first time, the SIR shares some high-level security best practices from countries that have consistently exhibited low malware infection. For example, Japan, Austria and Germany's infection rates remained relatively low during the first half of this year. So how do these regions keep their customers and resources safe from cyber threats? Japan's infection rates remain relatively low is due in large part to collaborations like the Cyber Clean Center. The Cyber Clean Center is a cooperative project between ISPs, major security vendors and Japanese government agencies aimed at educating users on how to keep their PCs infection free. Austria has implemented strict IT enforcement guidelines to lower piracy rates and this, along with strong ISP relationships and fast Internet lines, has helped ensure the ecosystem is kept up to date with security patches. Germany has also leveraged collaboration efforts with its CERT and ISP communities to help identify and raise awareness of botnet infections and, in some cases, quarantine infected computers. The other thing that stood out to me was the graph below. This graph shows the effectiveness of automatic updating and shows what happened to the trojan downloader family Win32/Renos once Microsoft released a signature update for Windows Defender via Windows Update and Microsoft Update. Within three days, enough computers had received the new signature update to reduce the error reports from 1.2 million per day to less than 100,000 per day worldwide! To me this shows how important it is for users and organizations to utilize automatic updates to help prevent the spread of malware! The report also underscores some of the trends that we have seen from previous versions of the report: for example, the infection rate for Windows Vista is significantly lower than that of its predecessor, Windows XP. It also tells me that the higher the service pack levels of an OS, the lower the infection rate. Once again, these items help point out that you need to keep your software up-to-date. With Windows 7 now available it might be a good time to look at upgrading your OS! Take a look at the full report at http://www.microsoft/com/sir and use the information to help protect yourself, your networks, and your users.

NVIDIA and Windows Touch

Windows 7 will change the ways you interact with your PC. How you ask? Windows Touch. Touch refers to the way Windows lets you interact directly with a computer using a finger. Compared to using a mouse, keyboard, or pen, touch can be much more engaging, natural, and convenient. The Windows Touch technology in Windows 7 is an evolution of the technology that is rooted in Windows Vista. In Windows Vista, single-touch input improved the interaction when using the pen stylus and the mouse of earlier Tablet PC platforms. With Windows 7, users can directly manipulate their computer environment through multitouch for the first time. Users can use a variety of gestures directly on their computer screen to move data, including: Touch, or mouse-such as behavior: tap, double-tap, right-click, drag, and select. Touch gestures- such as Flicks (navigational and editing). Multitouch gestures-- such as zooming in, zooming out, panning, and rotating. A Windows 7 PC powered by NVIDIA GPUs will deliver faster, more engaging Windows Touch experiences. NVIDIA GPUs are well known for accelerating 3D interfaces. The Windows 7 Aero desktop, now designed using the DirectX 10 API and designed for Windows Touch, is no exception. From the new taskbar previews to Aero Peek, Flip, Snap, and Shake, NVIDIA GPU provides a snappy 3D experience. Windows 7 also uses the GPU to reduce memory consumption by half by eliminating the need to keep a second copy of each window in system memory. This frees up system memory for other applications and keeps your PC responsive. Multi-touch capability was designed into the core of Windows 7 and is a perfect fit for the new highly visual GPU-accelerated applications like Cooliris and Super Loiloscope. Cooliris lets you browse the web in 3D and now with the addition of Windows Touch, the experience becomes even more immersive. With Super Loiloscope you can have fun creating videos and applying effects with the touch of your finger. Touch input does not replace the keyboard and mouse, it enhances them. Touch is a natural and intuitive way to interact with you PC when you are doing common computing tasks such as: Web browsing Interacting with photos Playing games Organizing music and video (creating playlists, sorting media, and organizing content) Reading and sorting e-mail Using documents Managing a Windows workspace As you can see, your Windows 7 Touch experience will be faster, smoother, and more immersive with an NVIDIA GPU in your PC.

Microsoft Just Made the Webs Best Video

Remember this hilarious video called A Brief History of the Web I blogged about in March? The video has won the Best Online Video (standalone) at the OMMA Awards. Very cool! You can see the full list of winners here. If you havent seen the History of the Web video already, you should ;-)

Join Us For The New Efficiency Launch Event

Early adopters speak out on business value live September 29th 9-10.30am PDT Join in the conversation during this must-see event and see top technology leaders and Microsofts Steve Ballmer, debate the role of IT during this economic reset. Can cost savings, productivity and innovation come together to drive business growth? Get a closer look at how real companies are justifying IT investments across desktop, server, network and beyond. Youll also find sessions related to new releases of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft Forefront, Microsoft System Center, and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. Sign up here and mark your calendars.

#WinWin7 Twitter Contest Rolls On

Since the first tweet went out on the #WinWin7 Twitter Contest, the Windows Outreach Team on Microsofts official Windows Twitter account @MSWindows has been busy giving away some great (and somewhat goofy) prizes to their followers. The best part, through, is that I hear that things are just heating up. Heres a recap of what theyve given away in the #WinWin7 promotion so far: 7 piping hot pizzas delivered right to followers doors 7 pounds of candy to satisfy followers penchants for sugar $7.77 in shiny Andrew Jackson dollars and pennies 7 Microsoft keyboards and mice (PC mice, not live mice, thatd get messy) @WindowsGamer gave away some signed Warhammer art books 2 gaming keyboards from @WindowsGamer 7 sodas from the stash on Microsofts Redmond campus Theres more to come and the prizes are only getting better (and somewhat goofier). Starting today, they are making a push for 77,777 followers by Windows 7 GA (October 22nd). Starting at 42,777 followers, they will give out a copy of Windows 7 to one of their lucky followers. Starting there, they will continue to give away a copy of Windows 7 for every 2,000 followers (so, at 44,777 then 46,777 and on and on). For those good at math, the more people we get to join, the more chances you (as a follower) have of winning a copy of Windows 7. All followers of @MSWindows are eligible, so those who have been loyal followers since the beginning are still in the running. Winners will receive their copy of Windows 7 they won after the Oct. 22 launch date. When the magical number of 77,777 is reached, the Windows Outreach Team has some great (and super-secret) prizes to hand out. If youre not following @MSWindows on Twitter already, you should consider doing so as things look like they will get pretty interesting ;-) For more on the Windows Outreach Team, read this blog post.

Windows Home Server Team is featured in a new whitepaper titled, How Microsoft listens and responds to customers

The Windows Home Server team was cited as an example in a recently released whitepaper titled, How Microsoft listens and responds to customers. The Customer and Partner Experience site provides an overview of Microsofts company-wide system of measuring our efforts to encourage strong customer focus from senior executives down through the entire employee base. An excerpt from the whitepaper is below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Connect: A Product Feedback Community When it comes to understanding how Microsoft products perform in real-world situations and identifying ways that we can improve our products, theres no better barometer than immediate feedback from customers and partners. To enable this, we have consolidated many of our listening systems into Microsoft Connect, a centralized feedback platform for product teams that enables customers and partners to interact directly with Microsoft developers and product managers. The Microsoft Connect Web site (http://connect.microsoft.com) has more than 1.4 million registered users, averages over 1 million visits per month, and has delivered more than 8.5 million downloads of applications and documents. Virtually every major business group in the company has a presence on Microsoft Connect, with more than 1,900 programsincluding betas, Technical Adoption Programs and Customer Advisory Councilscurrently hosted on the site. For example, the Windows Home Server teams Connect programs have been instrumental in helping developers improve the product. Were constantly using Connect to answer questions, discover technical bugs and get the right feedback into our system, says Jonas Svensson, Windows Home Server community program manager. Connect helps us engage with a vibrant community of users on an ongoing basis. We provide them with access to early versions of Windows Home Server. In return, Connect participants submit suggestions on how to improve the product, which gets timely feedback into our system. Svenssons team recently released the Power Pack 3 beta for Windows Home Server through Connect. The Power Pack is an update that provides fixes for known issues and adds new features to improve the functionality of Windows Home Server, including enhancements for Windows 7based computers. Connect has allowed us to get this important update into the hands of tens of thousands of users who can thoroughly test it out and report back on their experience, says Svensson. We deliver much-anticipated product functionality, and our users are helping ensure great integration with Windows 7 at the time of release.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Release Candidate Now Available for Download

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the release candidate of MDT 2010. This release contains numerous bug fixes since MDT 2010 Beta 2. MDT 2010 RC has been tested and will work with Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM as well as all previously supported operating systems. A BIG thank you goes out to all who tested and have given feedback for MDT 2010 Beta 2 (see our post here). We were able to fix several bugs and push through some design changes based on your feedback. Now is the time for you to verify the bug fixes and continue to provide feedback as we work towards the release of MDT 2010. As with any release please make sure you read through the release notes to understand the known issues with this release and make sure you have a backup of your deployment environment before you upgrade to MDT 2010 RC. If you have not signed up on Microsoft Connect you can still do so here. If already a member, click here to get the Release Candidate of MDT 2010.

Get The New Windows Live Movie Maker Today!

Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live, just has announced via the Windows Live Team Blog that the new Windows Live Movie Maker is now available. The new version of Windows Live Movie Maker is part of an update to Windows Live Essentials available for download here. Im currently running the new version of Windows Live Movie Maker on Windows 7 RTM and it will also run on Windows Vista too. For more information on the new Windows Live Movie Maker, see Brians blog post or this awesome resource website which includes demo, HD samples and deep product info. Sorry for such a short post, but Im off to make me some movies!

Using Custom Icons in Windows Mobile 6.5

Update: As of August 10, 2009, the requirement for the PNG Start Screen icons has changed from requiring three to one (90x90) PNG icon. This post has been updated to reflect this change. You can satisfy this requirement via the static setup described below. If youve seen the any of the plethora of Windows Mobile 6.5 screen shots, likely youd agree that it looks much better than previous versions. A component of this face lift, is support for PNG files in the Window Mobile 6.5 Start screen. Including a nicely rendered PNG file as your application icon is important to ensure the highest quality user experience across different devices. If you plan to distribute your application via Windows Marketplace for Mobile (and I dont know why you wouldnt) the requirements document requires that you use a 90 x 90 Start screen icon for your application. This post will cover how to use PNG files as icons in the Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Start screen. For information on creating PNG icons, see my previous post on Creating Custom Icons for Windows Mobile 6.5. The sample code I will be referring to in this post can be found here. Contents: Start Screen: Resolution / DPI and Icon Size Registry Keys Setup: Static or Dynamic Cached Icons Start Screen: Resolution / DPI and Icon Size The Start Screen is one of the huge improvements in Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional. This replaces the Start Menu in previous versions. The improvements include: enhanced touch screen navigation (tap, tap and hold, pan, and flick) and more options for organizing and presenting Start menu items. If you are an experienced Windows Mobile developer, you know that depending on the DPI and resolution of the device, the shell extracts the appropriately sized icon from the EXE for display in the Start screen. Windows Mobile 6.5 still supports this; however now it also supports the display of PNG file icons. The shell does not automatically select the size of the PNG icon based on the device DPI. This dynamic selection of the icon is done in a setup dll. (See dynamic setup below.) However, if you do not want to provide a separate PNG file for each DPI, you can provide one (90x90) and the shell will scale down the icon as necessary, depending on the DPI of the device. (In fact, this is the Marketplace requirement.) The table below illustrates the DPI / resolution and icon size relationship. Windows Mobile Platform Resolution DPI Orientation Small Icon Large Icon Start Menu PNG Icon (6.5) 6.x Professional 240x240 96 Square 16x16 32x32 45x45 6.x Professional 240x320 96 Portrait & Landscape 16x16 32x32 45x45 6.x Professional 240x400 96 Portrait & Landscape 16x16 32x32 45x45 6.x Professional 320x320 128 Square 21x21 43x43 60x60 6.x Professional 480x480 192 Square 32x32 64x64 90x90 6.x Professional 480x640 192 Portrait & Landscape 32x32 64x64 90x90 6.x Professional 480x800 192 Portrait & Landscape 32x32 64x64 90x90 6.x Professional 480x864 192 Portrait & Landscape 32x32 64x64 90x90 6.x Standard 176x220 96 Portrait 16x16 32x32 N/A 6.x Standard 240x320 131 Portrait & Landscape 22x22 44x44 N/A 6.x Standard 240x240 131 Square 22x22 44x44 N/A 6.x Standard 240x400 131 Portrait & Landscape 22x22 44x44 N/A 6.x Standard 440x240 131 Landscape 22x22 44x44 N/A Registry Keys To have the Start screen use a PNG file instead of an icon embedded in the EXE, you need to provide the following registry entries: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security\Shell\StartInfo\Start\Phone.lnk] "Icon"="\Application Data\My App\newphoneicon.png" Here are the definitions of the value pair settings: Name Type Description Name REG_SZ Specifies the display name of the item. If the value is not specified, the file name will be displayed without the extension. Group REG_DWORD Specifies whether the item is a folder. The value can be set to TRUE or FALSE. Set the value to TRUE to indicate that the item is a folder. If the value is not specified, the system will determine the Group value by verifying whether the registry key has any subkeys. Icon REG_SZ Specifies the path and file name where the icon is located. The icon can consist of a PNG file or an embedded icon resource module. If this value is not specified, the default icon of the shell will be used. Rank REG_DWORD Specifies the rank of the item. An item that specifies a larger value for Rank will be displayed before items that specify a lower value. If this item is not specified, the Rank will be set to 0. Security note: This requires creating a registry key underneath HKLM\Security. This is a protected registry location. To write to a protected registry key, the CAB file needs to be signed. This will not be a problem for Marketplace applications, since by definition they are signed. As mentioned, this article only applies to Windows Mobile Professional devices. However, if your use the same CAB for a Standard device installation, you will need to make sure your application is signed privileged, otherwise setup will fail. Setup In the next two sections, Ill walk through two deployment scenarios, static and dynamic. Static Setup: You can specify the registry key as part of your CAB file configuration. Per the Marketplace requirements, I will use a 90 x 90 PNG file as the Start screen icon. In my Smart Device CAB project, I have added the following registry key: Note: This registry key supports CE strings and .INF file strings. Above %InstallDir% maps to the \Program Files\SMS Intercept directory. My CAB file also includes the (90x90) AppIcon.png and a shortcut of the same name as the registry key above (SMS Intercept.lnk). See below: Dynamic Setup: Detecting DPI: Another way to configure the Start screen icon is dynamically: copying the appropriately sized PNG file based on the DPI of the device. We will use a setup dll to detect the DPI, and copy the appropriate PNG. You may know that WCELOAD (the EXE that process the CAB file) or a DLL that is loaded into its process, will return the same DPI (96) no matter the actual DPI of the device. To workaround this, we launch a very small helper EXE that quickly exits, without UI, and returns the DPI. The SDK sample ResDLL uses this technique as well as demonstrates how to install DPI specific resource DLLs. Here is the code used to detect the DPI: int WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPTSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow) { HDC hdc = ::GetDC(NULL); INT ans = ::GetDeviceCaps(hdc, LOGPIXELSX); ::ReleaseDC(NULL, hdc); return ans; } Copy DPI specific files: Our dynamic CAB file contains four png files: 45.png 60.png 90.png AppIcon.png Based on the DPI detected, we copy the appropriate PNG file to the filename AppIcon.png. AppIcon.png is included in the CAB as a fallback in case our DPI detect logic fails. The unused icons and the DPI detect EXE are deleted. Here is a code snippet from the sample setup dll (SetupDPI) implementing this: wsprintf(szFile,_T("%s\\%s"), pszInstallDir, _T("\\GetRealDPI.EXE")); // Launch DPI Detector ::CreateProcess(szFile, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &pi); ::WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, 10000); // DPI is returned in exit code of detector app ::GetExitCodeProcess(pi.hProcess, &nSystemDPI); ::CloseHandle(pi.hProcess); ::DeleteFile(szFile); // Based on DPI, copy xx.png to AppIcon.png and delete unused files wsprintf(szOutFile,_T("%s\\%s"), pszInstallDir, szTargetFilename); for (INT i=0;i<ARRAYSIZE(DPI_Icon);i++) { wsprintf(szFile,_T("%s\\%s"), pszInstallDir, DPI_Icon[i].lpstrIconSize); if (DPI_Icon[i].DPI==nSystemDPI) { ::CopyFile(szFile, szOutFile, FALSE); } ::DeleteFile(szFile); } Create Shortcut: As mentioned, we do the post-processing of the files after the CAB is installed (in the Install_Exit function). That is, because the icon image in the Start screen is created when the shortcut is created (see the cached icons section below), we need to create the shortcut in the setup dll instead of in the CAB file as was done in the static CAB sample. Otherwise, the Start screen will use an icon extracted from the EXE instead of the PNG file. Here is the language independent code that creates the shortcut: // Build lnk filename PTCHAR pAppDir = wcsrchr(pszInstallDir, '\\'); TCHAR szShortcutPath[MAX_PATH]; // CSIDL_PROGRAMS == \Windows\Start Menu\Programs SHGetSpecialFolderPath(hwndParent, szShortcutPath, CSIDL_PROGRAMS , false); wsprintf(szFile,_T("%s%s%s"), szShortcutPath, pAppDir, _T(".lnk")); // Build exe filename // CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES == \Program Files SHGetSpecialFolderPath(hwndParent, szShortcutPath, CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES , false); wsprintf(szOutFile,_T("\"%s%s%s%s\""), szShortcutPath, pAppDir, pAppDir, _T(".exe")); SHCreateShortcut(szFile, szOutFile); Note that the dynamic CAB sample does not not contain the file system declaration that creates a shortcut as the static sample CAB does. Cached Icons During development, you will likely want to change the PNG file as you experiment will different artwork. You will notice that if you overwrite the PNG file, the Start screen will not use the new image. This is because when the Start screen shortcut is created, the icon image is cached by the shell. Thereafter for better performance, the shell retrieves the image from the cache. The cache is rebuilt a boot time. Here is one possible workaround: Delete the shortcut Rename (or copy) target EXE name. For example, rename hello.exe to hello1.exe Recreate shortcut pointing to new EXE name. Here is provisioning XML that does this. You can run this using RapiConfig.exe: <wap-provisioningdoc> <characteristic type="FileOperation"> <!-- Delete Shortcut --> <characteristic type="%CE11%\SMS Intercept.lnk" translation="install"> <characteristic type="Delete"> <parm name="ForceDelete"/> </characteristic> </characteristic> <!-- Copy EXE name to new EXE --> <characteristic type="%CE1%\sms Intercept\sms Intercept1.exe" translation="install"> <characteristic type="Copy"> <parm name="Source" value="%CE1%\sms Intercept\sms Intercept.exe" translation="install"/> </characteristic> </characteristic> <!-- Create new shortcut pointing to new EXE name --> <characteristic type="%CE11%" translation="install"> <characteristic type="MakeDir" /> <characteristic type="SMS Intercept.lnk" translation="install"> <characteristic type="Shortcut"> <parm name="Source" value="%CE1%\sms Intercept\sms Intercept1.exe" translation="install" /> </characteristic> </characteristic> </characteristic> </characteristic> </wap-provisioningdoc> Conclusion You should now understand how to configure your CAB file projects to include PNG files as icons in the Windows Mobile 6.5 Start screen. For a list of frequently asked questions on this topic see here: Start Screen PNG Icon FAQ Share this post :

Ready to Port your iPhone App to Windows Mobile?

Hello, my name is Constanze Roman and Im a Community PM with the Windows Mobile Community Team. If youve been curious about porting an iPhone app to the Windows Mobile platform, then I have exciting news for you! We have just published a new technical article on MSDN titled Porting the Amplitude Application from the iPhone to a Windows Mobile Device a Case Study which outlines the real-world experiences of a developer who ported the popular Amplitude application. Amplitude picks up any sound in a users surroundings through the microphone and then amplifies the sound, rendering it into a rich graphical representation on the device. Amplitude can be used to amplify any sounds, such as human or animal heartbeats, that usually wouldnt be picked up by the human ear. Amplitude provides a cool user interface featuring an oscilloscope that allows users to view and visually quantify, signal voltages, as you can see the volume of the sound that you are listening to. Amplitude is well suited for a porting project because it combines a rich user interface with features such as alpha blending and transparency with specific audio and sound requirements, which makes it challenging to port the app but, at the same time, provides a number of helpful learning experiences. Luke Thompson, a software developer with Gripwire.com, a Seattle-based mobile and social application development company, took on the challenge to find out what it takes to port the iPhone version of Amplitude to a Windows phone. The case study now published on MSDN outlines Thompsons experience, and provides some key takeaways for developers who want to get into the porting business. Thompsons account of his porting experience is especially interesting because it outlines the Community resources he has used to get the information he needs. In his conclusion, Thompson credits the Windows Mobile Developer Community for helping him resolve the issues he encountered along the road, stating that: The large development community, both within Microsoft and outside, and the various whitepapers, blogs, virtual labs, websites, and other online documentation, offered a wealth of information that provided direction and greatly facilitated problem resolution. The only real challenge was assuring total portability between screens, and that was assured by utilizing the concept of aspect ratios. Although Thompson did encounter some roadblocks while porting the Amplitude app to Windows Mobile, he was able to successfully resolve all issues and get the application to work on a HTC Touch Pro phone that runs on a build of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. One of Thompsons main takeaways was that the Visual Studio 2008 Development Environment really made a difference for him because it provided most of what he needed at one place, such as the security certificates (certs.cab) for installing the application on your device. Thompson noted that the MSDN Virtual Labs were especially helpful in getting him started with the development process. When porting the app from the iPhone to Windows Mobile, Thompson had to pay attention to major differences in the OS, such as the fact that the iPhone does not support running applications in the background, while background operation is a requirement for all Windows Mobile applications. Adjusting the screen orientation as well as accommodating phones with keyboards was another area which required additional investigation, which led Thompson to MSDN, which ended up providing a workable solution. Porting the UI posed some challenges, especially since the UI for the Amplitude app on the iPhone makes use of transparencies and alpha blending. Since some of these functionalities are not available in the .NET Compact Framework, Thompson had to look for community resources to find the information he needed to complete this task. When searching for a resource, Thompson discovered the UI Framework, which is posted on Code Gallery and turned out to be a major asset for Thompsons porting efforts. Thompson depended on community content as well to help him port the audio and sound features of the Amplitude app to Windows Mobile. The Code Project turned out to be especially helpful for Thompson efforts, as he found an article that explained how to create a framework for implementing audio effects in C#. Thompsons case study shows, that even though there are some challenges in porting a multimedia-rich application from the iPhone to Windows Mobile, the task can be accomplished, especially with the help of developer-friendly tools like Visual Studio, the richness of community content that is available for Windows Mobile, and last but not least by planning the project ahead and doing all the necessary research in advance. Thompsons experience should save you time as you port your own applications to Windows Mobile. With Windows Marketplace for Mobile getting ready to open its doors to millions of potential new customers, the opportunity is compelling. Share this post :

Hopper for Windows Mobile 6.5 Released!

For those of you who have been waiting for this, I wont make you read any further. You can download these bits for the Hopper Test Tool. The current version is compatible with Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1, and 6.5. The previous version of Hopper is not supported for Windows Mobile 6.5. Hopper is a software test tool that simulates input stress on Windows Mobile powered devices. Hopper will stress all applications that are available through the menu system by rapidly sending keystrokes and screen taps in a random fashion. By sending a large number of user inputs very rapidly, Hopper can quickly isolate troublesome scenarios and find bugs in your applications. It is very important to begin Hopper testing early in your development cycle, as application defects found early in the development cycle are easier to fix and provide a stable base to build the rest of your application. Sometimes, bugs found by Hopper are very difficult to find and fix, but their value should not be underestimated. Hopper will help you find system and application scenarios that you may not have thought of. The power of Hopper lies in its ability to very rapidly send random inputs to the system. This ability is also what makes Hopper debugging challenging, since it is often difficult to find simple user reproductions. The Hopper Test is required for Windows Marketplace for Mobile application certification. The application must complete two hours of the Hopper test without exhibiting unpredictable behavior, hanging or crashing. As of this blog date there is currently a typo in the Application Submission Guidelines document, which states that Hopper version 2.0.24.7025 is required. The corrected text should refer to version 2.0.24.2359. Also of note in the guidelines is that a focus application will need to be customized and deployed to the device prior to running Hopper. This will ensure that Hopper's main focus is on the target application. More information on how to create a focus application is available here.

The Race to Market

Today represents another significant milestone for Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and more importantly, the first big opportunity for developers. We are now accepting application submissions from all 29 supported countries and have launched a Race to Market Challenge to kick things off. Its time to show us what youve got! (mobile)this.developer Registered developers and ISVs can now upload their application, game or widget to the Windows Marketplace platform and well begin certifying those apps according to the process, policies and guidelines weve published. We certify apps on a First In, First Out (FIFO) basis. Certification should normally take about 10 business days initially and you can always check on your application during the process through our Developer Dashboard. To better market your app, you can provide us with all the product information and promotional materials youd like us to use to describe and showcase your application for the more than 30 million Windows Mobile devices out there. If we go through the certification process and your application doesnt pass one or more of the tests or checks, well give you a detailed report explaining which test and why. All of the tests and checks we run align with the tools and criteria weve shared, so there shouldnt be too many surprises. The steps we take to help ensure that an application meets reasonable expectations for quality, usability and localization creates a high standard for the marketplace, a consistent experience for shoppers and ultimately increased exposure and repeat business for all involved. Our strategy for all of this is pretty straightforward; we want to create a global marketplace for Windows Phones where developers and users meet to sell and buy high quality and high value applications that make work easier and life more fulfilling. Were creating a clear process and new opportunity for developers and ISVs to make money from their investment in innovation. The applications we feature will be well organized, easily accessible by PC or phone and backed by a money back guarantee. And when theyre ready to buy, customers will have a variety of payment options to choose from. These are new customer experiences, and frankly, capabilities that will set us apart. But it all starts today with the applications, and as I mentioned earlier were kicking this process off with a little contest were calling the Race to Market Challenge. The Race to Market Challenge is just another reason for developers to get in on the ground floor of the new Windows Marketplace. While we do sincerely believe that everyone who submits an app will benefit from being among the first available when Windows Marketplace opens for business, were offering a few other prizes as well. Race to Market Challenge Prizes; 4 Microsoft Surface tables (Developer Edition), online marketing & promotion of your app and challenge trophies for the mantle. Applications will be judged on: Most downloads of a free app Most valuable app (downloads x price) Most useful (as judged by Microsoft panel) Most playful (as judged by Microsoft panel) Contest runs from launch to Dec 31, 2009. So thats the scoop! The contest is open to ISVs & Developers who live in countries or regions where Windows Marketplace for Mobile is available. Further details, including Official Rules, are available at http://mobilethisdeveloper.com. Finally, Id like to thank the Windows Marketplace beta tester community for its patience and feedback, as well as all of you who have already taken the time to register your company with us (see comments from beta tester Eduify and Ilium). Weve learned a lot and cant wait to get more of your ideas and feedback to help us make the experience better for everyone. If Juniper research is right and we can expect to see 20 billion applications downloaded annually in the years ahead, the mobile app market is in its infancy and consumers will soon demand more consistent and intuitive shopping experiences than exists today. Were going to meet that demand. Join us!

Ready to Port your iPhone App to Windows Mobile?

Hello, my name is Constanze Roman and Im a Community PM with the Windows Mobile Community Team. If youve been curious about porting an iPhone app to the Windows Mobile platform, then I have exciting news for you! We have just published a new technical article on MSDN titled Porting the Amplitude Application from the iPhone to a Windows Mobile Device a Case Study which outlines the real-world experiences of a developer who ported the popular Amplitude application. Amplitude picks up any sound in a users surroundings through the microphone and then amplifies the sound, rendering it into a rich graphical representation on the device. Amplitude can be used to amplify any sounds, such as human or animal heartbeats, that usually wouldnt be picked up by the human ear. Amplitude provides a cool user interface featuring an oscilloscope that allows users to view and visually quantify, signal voltages, as you can see the volume of the sound that you are listening to. Amplitude is well suited for a porting project because it combines a rich user interface with features such as alpha blending and transparency with specific audio and sound requirements, which makes it challenging to port the app but, at the same time, provides a number of helpful learning experiences. Luke Thompson, a software developer with Gripwire.com, a Seattle-based mobile and social application development company, took on the challenge to find out what it takes to port the iPhone version of Amplitude to a Windows phone. The case study now published on MSDN outlines Thompsons experience, and provides some key takeaways for developers who want to get into the porting business. Thompsons account of his porting experience is especially interesting because it outlines the Community resources he has used to get the information he needs. In his conclusion, Thompson credits the Windows Mobile Developer Community for helping him resolve the issues he encountered along the road, stating that: The large development community, both within Microsoft and outside, and the various whitepapers, blogs, virtual labs, websites, and other online documentation, offered a wealth of information that provided direction and greatly facilitated problem resolution. The only real challenge was assuring total portability between screens, and that was assured by utilizing the concept of aspect ratios. Although Thompson did encounter some roadblocks while porting the Amplitude app to Windows Mobile, he was able to successfully resolve all issues and get the application to work on a HTC Touch Pro phone that runs on a build of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. One of Thompsons main takeaways was that the Visual Studio 2008 Development Environment really made a difference for him because it provided most of what he needed at one place, such as the security certificates (certs.cab) for installing the application on your device. Thompson noted that the MSDN Virtual Labs were especially helpful in getting him started with the development process. When porting the app from the iPhone to Windows Mobile, Thompson had to pay attention to major differences in the OS, such as the fact that the iPhone does not support running applications in the background, while background operation is a requirement for all Windows Mobile applications. Adjusting the screen orientation as well as accommodating phones with keyboards was another area which required additional investigation, which led Thompson to MSDN, which ended up providing a workable solution. Porting the UI posed some challenges, especially since the UI for the Amplitude app on the iPhone makes use of transparencies and alpha blending. Since some of these functionalities are not available in the .NET Compact Framework, Thompson had to look for community resources to find the information he needed to complete this task. When searching for a resource, Thompson discovered the UI Framework, which is posted on Code Gallery and turned out to be a major asset for Thompsons porting efforts. Thompson depended on community content as well to help him port the audio and sound features of the Amplitude app to Windows Mobile. The Code Project turned out to be especially helpful for Thompson efforts, as he found an article that explained how to create a framework for implementing audio effects in C#. Thompsons case study shows, that even though there are some challenges in porting a multimedia-rich application from the iPhone to Windows Mobile, the task can be accomplished, especially with the help of developer-friendly tools like Visual Studio, the richness of community content that is available for Windows Mobile, and last but not least by planning the project ahead and doing all the necessary research in advance. Thompsons experience should save you time as you port your own applications to Windows Mobile. With Windows Marketplace for Mobile getting ready to open its doors to millions of potential new customers, the opportunity is compelling.

Malicious Software Removal Tool from Microsoft

After a certain time, which is about once in a month, the computer needs to get cleaned from different "trash" (malwares, spywares, viruses), because you never know what you have might picked up during months of surfing the Internet and installing different applications. A group of such programs, whose goal is to make damage on your computer or to use the computer without its owners knowledge in other purposes, is called a malware. Viruses, worms, and Trojans all belong in that group; and according to their use and outspread, we could add spyware, adware or any other malicious software here. In order to draw your attention to certain mistakes, Microsoft has published "Malicious Software Removal Tool", the malicious software removing tools. Malicious Software Removal Tool is a tool that checks our computer in search for all sorts of malicious programs and helps in their removal if it finds them. To keep your tools always updated, Microsoft releases a new version every other Tuesday in month, which is possible to download from Microsofts pages, or directly over Windows Update. Let us only mention that these tools are not a replacement for the antivirus program, but merely a means of salvation if your antivirus fails. Practical usage advice: never look a gifted horse in the mouth. Although this program is free, it sure will be smart to check and correct the mistakes, that is, to clean the computer from different malicious software. Price: Free Link: Malicious Software Removal Tool

Get Ready; Windows Marketplace for Mobile Offers Millions of Potential New Customers

My name is Todd Brix and I am the Senior Director for Mobile Platform Services Product Management at Microsoft. I am on site at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans to talk about Windows Marketplace for Mobile and the terrific opportunity it represents for developers and partners. Given the enthusiasm we’ve seen around Windows Marketplace since we announced it earlier this year, I'm excited to have this opportunity to provide an update and hopefully address some of the feedback we've received.In terms of milestones, I'm pleased to report that Windows Marketplace is on schedule to open for submissions in 29 supported countries* on July 27th. We're already working with a wide range of leading developers for both business and consumer applications and will soon be able to make available a new wave of applications that will be ready for download when Windows Marketplace launches with Windows Mobile 6.5 in the fall. To make things a little more interesting, later this month we'll also be announcing the details of a developer contest that will kick off at launch. We're working hard to create a new experience for mobile users and developers alike; where users can easily discover and confidently purchase and download applications for work, life or play and developers feel good about the submission process and are able to reach a new market for their mobile applications. In fact, we’re announcing today that by the end of 2009 Windows Marketplace will also be available to Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 devices. This means that developers will have an opportunity to reach more than 30 million Windows Mobile devices. To help those millions of business users find what they're looking for, we’re also unveiling the Windows Marketplace Business Center; a category in Windows Marketplace that will contain mobile business applications across several common industries and line of business functions from leading companies that include Avanade UK, Formotus, Ilium Software, Pyxis Mobile and WebIS. Business Center is another way for our partners to differentiate themselves and showcase their business applications, while making it easier for users to locate and purchase the latest mobile business tools. (sample view of Windows Marketplace Business Center, subject to change.) To recap the Windows Marketplace for Mobile announcements at Worldwide Partner Conference: Application Submission Opens on July 27th: Windows Marketplace will open for application submissions from 29 supported countries July 27. Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 Support: Windows Marketplace will be available for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 by the end of 2009 (in addition to Windows Mobile 6.5 at launch in the fall). Business Center: Windows Marketplace will feature a "Business Center" category for business applications. Developer Contest: Microsoft will be disclosing the details of a Windows Marketplace developer contest on July 27. I’ll be on site at the Worldwide Partner Conference today talking to partners and presenting our Windows Marketplace strategy and even offering a brief demonstration on the main stage on Wednesday morning. Throughout the event, I’ll be gathering feedback and doing my best to drive registration and application submissions for July 27th. My team and I are eager to get your feedback and will do our best to address your comments and questions in the days and weeks ahead. You can also view my video post here on Channel 9. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Windows Mobile MSDN Blog Archives

As of today the Windows Mobile Blog has officially joined The Windows Blog. Not only have our bloggers made the transition, but much of the high impact content has been brought forward for your convenience. SDK, DTK, DRK: WTF?! | MSDN Windows Mobile RampUp Track Is Now Available On MSDN | MSDN Carry Your Office in Your Pocket #1 | MSDN Windows Mobile Facebook Application Update | MSDN Microsoft Tag Update | MSDN Resolving Common Crashes Seen in Windows Mobile Watson Data | MSDN Samsung’s Web Site for Windows Mobile Developers | MSDN developer.windowsmobile.com | MSDN Windows® Marketplace for Mobile Developer Strategy Announced! | MSDN DreamSpark for Students | MSDN Introducing Windows® Marketplace for Mobile… | MSDN Microsoft My Phone | MSDN Mobile Manager for Netflix | MSDN Microsoft Tag | MSDN Developing Location Aware Applications for Windows Mobile | MSDN New Version of Live Search Mobile | MSDN Survey of Web Browsers for Windows Mobile | MSDN Windows Mobile Development Forum | MSDN Press, Click, Select, or Choose?!? | MSDN

7 Ways to Get Free Tickets to PDC 2009 Plus up to $17,777

Do you want to win a free trip to Los Angeles and a free ticket to PDC 2009? Do you think you have what it takes to win $17,777? Do you think you can write an amazing Windows 7 application? Well, if your answer to any of the above question is "Yes!" then say hello to the Code7 Contest. The Code7 contest is where your application design ingenuity gives you the opportunity to get millions of eyes on your work, plus a trip to LA for PDC09, and up to $17,777 in cash! Code7 is a special coding contest for developers. It is a great opportunity to show the world your creativity and coding powers. It is a way for you to cash in on your knowledge and skills. This is not just another standard code contest; this contest gives the finalists the opportunity to present their application at PDC 2009 in LA. The first prize is a real gem: $17,777 in cash, the opportunity to present the application to Microsoft executives at PDC 2009, plus worldwide interest in your application including a massive marketing bump for your application. To enter, you must: Build an original, consumer-oriented client application prototype that runs natively on Windows 7 (for example Win32, WPF, MFC or WinForms not an Air application or just a gadget) and addresses one or more of the following topic categories: Simplify My Life More Media, More Places Gaming Work From Anywhere Safeguard Your Work Applications for a Better Tomorrow The application must use at least one of the following Windows 7 technology features; however, judging will give more weight to entries that take advantage of more than one of these features: Libraries Windows Touch Shell Integration DX11 (DirectX 11) Sensor and Location Platform So if you have being following my blog you have some advantage. The contest has several stages and few rules you need to be aware of: To enter this contest you must create and submit a video in which you describe and demonstrate your application. The first qualifying round starts at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on July 13, 2009, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on October 10, 2009 (Entry Period). You will be able to able to submit your video until midnight October 10, 2009. Your entry will be included in a pool with all eligible entries based on your geographical region. Entries received by 11:59 p.m. PT on August 15, 2009, will be eligible to win an Early Bird prize described in the Winner Determination section below. Following the close of the first qualifications, a panel of judges will select two runner-up winners and one Finalist from each Region. Following judging, Microsoft will notify all winners and finalists and provide instructions for submitting their applications for evaluation. Finalists will be invited to present their applications to a panel of judges at the Microsoft Partner Developer Conference 2009 (PDC09) in Los Angeles, CA, USA. For the complete contest rules and legal notice, please refer to the RULES section on the Code7 Contest Web site - https://www.code7contest.com/. So, what are you waiting for? Get going and start working on your Windows 7 application!

Linux - legal FAT?

 After Microsoft's claims against the Tom Tom for using FAT file system on Linux devices, many manufacturers of portable devices with Linux on FAT are worried that they will be sued by Microsoft.

The Linux Foundation has issued a recommendation for Linux developers to remove FAT base from their projects, but that is not possible in the moment because many products and applications still depend on FAT file system, so the Open Invention Network is searching the proof that the FAT solutions were used somewhere before Microsoft patented it.

But as always, Linux has solution for this problem. Andrew Trigdella released a kernel patch last week that converts short file names (8 +3) to long and vice versa. The Patch leaves the short name file only in that form, and when a file has long name, the system only saves it with a long name - living the invalid characters in short name file that OS ignores (in that case OS ignore a short name file) and that is how Linux take round of the Microsoft patent.

Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

As promised, Microsoft has launched a beta version of its anti-virus - Security Essentials. The program is freely available from Microsoft site, but (for now) only (for chosen) to the United States, Israel, China and Brazil. Users of Windows 7, Vista and XP with this solution will get protection from viruses, spyware, Trojans and other malicious software. From Microsoft said that this tool is easy for use, has automatic upgrades and low hardware requirements. For installation required 140 MB of space and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or Firefox 2.0. Before installation and using Microsoft Security Essentials it is recommended removal of other security software from your computer.