MSDN Magazine November 2001

Article
10/24/2019

November 2001

Windows XP Overview: Take Advantage of New Windows XP Features in Your Apps Today

Windows XP includes both improvements to the operating system and several new features that enhance the user experience. The most noticeable change in Windows XP is the user interface, which includes a revised Start menu and updated Task Bar. The new look is possible because Windows XP can be skinned, which lets the interface be changed dramatically with a new facility called themes. Windows XP also introduces fast user switching, which allows multiple users to be logged onto their own sessions at the same time on the same machine and, as the name implies, they can switch back and forth quickly. Another new feature, ClearType, is discussed here as well. Douglas Boling

New Graphical Interface: Enhance Your Programs with New Windows XP Shell Features

The Windows XP shell introduces many new features that both users and developers are sure to welcome. The interface supports a number of styles that will be new to users, and it also supports customization of those styles through a new concept called themes. There are more shell registry settings available to the user and developer, a facility for customizing infotips, and infotip shell extensions. In addition, folder views can be customized. This article covers these shell changes and includes a discussion of a number of other Windows XP additions. These include fast user switching, which lets users log on and off quickly, and AutoPlay support for a variety of devices and file types not previously supported. Dino Esposito

Beyond Windows XP: Get Ready Now for the Upcoming 64-Bit Version of Windows

In this article the author modifies an industry standard middle-tier application server benchmark called Nile. The goal was to get it to build and run correctly on the 64-bit edition of the Microsoft .NET Advanced Server running on computers with Intel Itanium processors and still build as a 32-bit version to run on Pentium class x86 processors. While modifying Nile, the author discovered some of the tips he presents here. As the article explains, when modifying code for 64-bit Windows, data types are the key to success. The article discusses which types to use and when, along with new data types and the importance of memory alignment. Stan Murawski

Autoplay in Windows XP: Automatically Detect and React to New Devices on a System

The last few years have seen dramatic growth in digital multimedia content and an increasing number of devices generating such content. Accordingly, the Autoplay feature of Microsoft Windows has been enhanced to handle these scenarios. This article presents samples that use the new features and provides advice on how to take advantage of these additions. The topics covered include Autoplay support for audio CDs and for DVD movies, the Autoplay registration process, event handlers, and how your software can cancel Autoplay when you don't want certain files interrupted. The download includes tools for diagnosing problems and to help the reader understand the shell hardware detection service processing of hardware events. Stephane St-Michel and Brian Aust

.NET CLR Profiling Services: Track Your Managed Components to Boost Application Performance

The Microsoft .NET platform provides you with a rich set of services for building profilers and application monitors for applications targeting the Common Language Runtime (CLR). These services expose runtime events that occur during the execution of a .NET application. They can be used to obtain information about managed code being executed under the runtime. This article describes the .NET CLR Profiling Services and shows how to use the services to build a simple profiler that will provide hot spot information for any .NET application. The sample profiler can easily be modified to suit other profiling and monitoring needs. Anastasios Kasiolas

Editor's Note:

New Stuff: Resources for Your Developer Toolbox

Theresa W. Carey

Web Q&A: A Look at Usability

Edited by Nancy Michell

Data Points: Abstracting ADO.NET

John Papa

Cutting Edge: Using Session and Application Objects in ASP.NET

Dino Esposito

House of Web Services: Moving to .NET and Web Services

Don Box

Security Briefs: ASP.NET Security Issues