RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX SP2 released

As I promised last week and mentioned yesterday, the second service pack for the Q2 2008 RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX has just been released. The primary focus of this service pack release is delivering complete support for Google's new Chrome browser, so again, if you need that support, download and install this release right away. A few additional things have made it in to SP2, too, beyond the normal bug fixes. Among the most interesting (in my opinion):

• Memory leak fixes across all controls for better IE performance
• New client-side event in RadCombobox: OnClientTextChanged
• Image editor functions (crop, resize, etc.) provided with RadEditor can now be used outside of Editor!
• Many new client- and server-side events in RadGrid
• New EmptyDataText property in GridBoundColumn (for setting null text at the column level)
• New AutoPostBack property in RadRotator

So, I guess I was wrong last week when I said there was "nothing" new in this release. But in this case, I'm happy to be wrong. Enjoy the extra goodies in this SP2 release and keep an eye out for the Q2 2008 beta soon. Read full Q2 2008 SP2 release notes

Telerik Watch Minute: RadGrid client-side data binding

So it seems this new Telerik Watch Minute format is popular. Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback after "episode 1." Today I bring you the second "Minute", which incorporates some of your feedback (primarily addressing length- this is two whole minute vs. one) and focuses on new client-side data binding features in RadGrid for ASP.NET AJAX. The key thing I show-off in this clip is how much of a savings you get in terms of HTTP request and response size when you use web services and RadGrid client-side data binding vs. traditional ASP.NET AJAX operations. Since the ASP.NET AJAX UpdatePanel approach to Ajax executes the full page lifecycle on every request, all of your Ajax operations are littered with extra payload (like viewstate!). When you use web services instead (combined with the new Q2 2008 RadGrid features), your HTTP requests and responses are sweet, compact serialized JSON. Enjoy the second TWM and watch for many more to come. I'm still trying to figure out how often to publish these, but for now expect them at least weekly. What do you think? How often would you like to see TWM updates? P.S. You can grab the demo code used in this TWM from my follow-up ALT.NET talk post. The code is in a 7zip archive (sorry! FTP problems). I'll be posting a Zip version as soon as I can.

Q2 2008 now live!

The big release is finally here! Our teams have worked extremely hard to bring you another (mostly on-time) release packed with new features and controls, and now it's time for you to download it. Q2 2008 is a unique release because it welcomes two new product lines to the RadControls family- RadControls for WPF and RadControls for Silverlight- and we're very excited to be the first major UI component vendor to deliver UI component suites for all major Microsoft UI platforms- ASP.NET, WinForms, Silverlight, and WPF. It's just another step in our quest to become your one-stop-shop provider for all of your UI component and .NET tools.

Not much else needs to said. You can catch my earlier coverage of the Q2 release for some perspective of what's new today. The only new detail to mention: the Default2006 skin in the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX will not be retired in Q2. Many of you asked us to save it from being removed from the built-in skins and we listened. Otherwise, enjoy the release notes and the new bits!

RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX Release Notes
RadControls for WinForms Release Notes
RadControls for WPF Release Notes
Telerik Reporting Release Notes

Q2 2008 delayed, due tomorrow

Well, there's nothing like eating crow after your first video update. I've been on the line with the teams in Bulgaria all morning and it appears the new Q2 2008 release will not be live until tomorrow. And while a one day delay is nothing compared to the delays some software projects have suffered, we hate to miss announced release targets. As it turns out, there was a last minute problem that our rigorous QA unearthed in the RadControls for WinForms and that is the cause for the delay. All other products- including the new controls for WPF and Silverlight- are ready to go and there is no question that everything will be live on the site tomorrow morning (US time). I apologize to those of you eagerly expecting the release today! While you wait, get a head-start on understanding the new features the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX by checking-out the already live Q2 2008 online demos.

Update: Q2 2008 coming Wednesday

Release weeks are always exciting times. As new products are wrapped-up with bows and put under the proverbial Client.net Christmas Tree, customers eagerly await their arrival with regular, enthusiastic requests for updates on release timing. So for all of you preparing your "Is the release ready yet?" forum posts, just keep your browsers locked-in here for the most up-to-date and accurate information about Telerik's big Q2 2008 release.

To that end, I can officially confirm that this year's Q2 release will be live on the Telerik website Wednesday, July 23rd (for those of you wondering, that is this Wednesday). That means the release will be right on time and in your Client.net accounts for download in less than 48 hours. If you're looking for something to do 'til then, sound-off in the comments and let me know what you're most looking forward to in this release. Otherwise, Wednesday is the day and Telerik Watch is the place for all your release news.

Q2 2008 comming next week

We've been building-up to this release for a while now- well, about 3 months, really- and it's time to prepare for the big event. The 2nd major Telerik release for 2008 will ship next week, and with it will come exciting new improvements, controls, and suites! Q2 2008 will not only bring many new features to the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX and WinForms, but it will also officially introduce two new RadControl suites: RadControls for WPF and RadControls for Silverlight (though the Silverlight release will be "beta" until the plug-in is finalized). With so much in this release, it's easy to miss some of the important details. So while you wait for the big day, I've prepared a list of essential posts (both from this blog and the Telerik.com blogs) that you can read to get all the details you need to prepare for Q2:

RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX

• Q2 2008 Futures now live (RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX)
• New features in RadComboBox, RadTreeView, RadUpload and RadScheduler
• What's new in RadGrid for ASP.NET AJAX in Q2 2008
• Q2 ASP.NET Skinning
  

RadControls for WinForms & Telerik Reporting

• Q2 2008 Road Maps updated for WinForms, Reporting
• Design your RadCarousel with just drag & drop in Q2
  

RadControls for WPF & Silverlight

• RadControls for WPF Beta 2 released
• Telerik RadControls for Silverlight 2 CTP released
• RadWindow for Silverlight
• Optimizing the load size for Telerik Silverlight controls
• RadControls for WPF and Silverlight
• Announcing RadChart for WPF

Enjoy the posts and keep your RSS readers (or your browsers, for those not in to the "reader thing") locked-in here for the latest updates as Q2 draws near!

Q2 2008 Futures release now live

Want to be among the first to play with the changes coming to the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX in Q2 2008? If so, you need to download the just released "Futures" build for the ASP.NET AJAX controls (read my old post for clarification of the "Futures" term- we'll probably revert to the term "Beta" next year...maybe). This release showcases everything that will be happening in Q2 2008, including the first preview of the revived RadRotator control. Among the things coming to the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX in Q2 are:

• New, built from scratch, RadRotator- a new beginning for an old control
• New sorting, filtering, and client-side events in RadCombobox
• Huge improvements in RadGrid
• New client-side data binding
• Tons of new client-side objects, methods
• Many important bug fixes
  
• Important new features in RadScheduler
• Improved client-side loading time (claimed 30% faster)
• New Exchange data provider!
  
• Two-thumb sliders now supported in RadSlider
• New common skin for all controls: Gray
  
• Like new Telerik skin, just gray - see post pic for RadGrid example
  

You can see all of the new features running right now in the Futures live demos. The only new control in this release is the re-built RadRotator, and in the Futures build it is still an acknowledged weak control. There is a huge focus on that control in the run-up to the official Q2 release and you can expect it to be much improved by the end of July (and even more so in SP1).

Other gotchas in this release:

• There are some breaking changes in RadUpload. The changed features are minor and relate only to localization, but if you use RadUpload localization you'll want to take note.
• Two embedded skins are being retired in Q2: Default2006 and Mac. The Telerik skin has also be updated, so be prepared to check for design consistency if you use those skins. The old skins will remain available as extra downloads for use as external skins if you need them.

Hopefully you enjoy the features in this release. Q2 has been a very short dev cycle for Telerik as we continue to transition to our tri-annual (3 releases per year) release calendar, but I think we've managed to do a lot. Enjoy the "beta" bits and watch for the final release in a couple weeks.

Q2 2008 road maps updated for WinForms, Reporting

As you are probably aware, we are quickly approaching Telerik's second major release for the year. Scheduled to drop in late July, Q2 2008 is mere weeks away, and as the release draws near, it's time to start looking at the goods we've been working on for the last 3 months. To get get things started, we've just updated the public road maps for the RadControls for WinForms and Telerik Reporting. While a little later than we normally like to publish these details, the road maps do shed some interesting light on what you can expect to find in the Q2 release for these two products. Here are the highlights:

RadControls for WinForms

• New! Multi-column RadComboboxes
• New! RadApplicationMenu for RadRibbonBar
• RadGridView: Support for multi-column headers
  
• RadGridView: Improved Export To Excel (performance improvements)
• RadMenu: Refactored for huge performance improvements
• RadCarousel: Incredible new Visual Studio designer
• RadCarousel: Support for auto-looping items

Telerik Reporting

• New! Cross tab report support
• New! Bar code report items
• New! Checkbox report items
• New! Telerik Reporting Project Upgrade Wizard
  
• Improved Ajax integration in WebViewer
• Improve Crystal Reports conversion engine

Clearly, we've been busy! To see all the details, visit the Telerik Reporting and RadControls for WinForms road maps and then watch for the release soon. We'll be updating the ASP.NET road map later this week, so stay tuned for a primer on what you can expect to find in ASP.NET's Q2 release.