First Q3 2009 Beta shipping tomorrow, RadControls for XAML (update)

Looking for a way to get over the midweek hump? How about a freshly minted beta from Telerik to play with? Tomorrow, Wednesday Thursday [UPDATE 2: problems solved, beta now available], Telerik will be shipping the first of the Q3 2009 betas. Tomorrow's beta will focus exlusively on previewing some of the new controls and features that will be part of the Q3 2009 RadControls for Silvelright and RadControls for WPF (remember, these suites share the same codebase and API). Among the things that will be featured in the Beta1 release:

• New Controls (for Silverlight and WPF)
• TileView - a flexible, animated, lightweight layout container
• OutlookBar - a new UI component intended to provide functionality similar to (you guessed it) the panel bar in Outlook.
• RibbonBar - Telerik's first RibbonBar for XAML (SL only)
• Coverflow - All new and leveraging the 2D perspective engine in Silverlight 3 (SL only)
• Improvements
• TabControl - will get support for overflowing and scrolling tabs
• Scheduler - will get new timeline view and resource grouping
• Window - will get added to the WPF suite (already exists for Silverlight) (Oops! Window already exists for WPF. What I meant was...)
• Docking - will get added to the WPF suite (already exists for Silverlight)

And that's just the quick highlights. Stay tuned for more details, previews, and videos once the beta ships. You can already preview some of these controls on the Silverlight and WPF road maps.

This beta will not preview all new functionality destined for the XAML suites in Q3, so you can expect to see more new controls (like RadMap) and features in Beta2 and in the final release. In our aim to incorporate as much feedback as possible in to the Q3 release, though, we're releasing Beta 1 with plenty of time for you to check it out and tell us what you think. Speak now or forever enjoy the Q3 2009 release in peace! (At least until Q1 2010...)

UPDATE: The betas for both WPF and Silverlight are now available for immediate download. Look for the "Beta version available" link under the WPF and Silverlight product downloads.

New Q2 WPF & Silverlight videos on Telerik TV

So far I've highlighted all of the new videos for the Telerik RadControls for WinForms and the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX that have found their way to Telerik TV in support of the recent Q2 2009 release. If you're a XAML developer, though, there are also lots of new videos to support you, too! Our XAML evangelist Evan Hutnick has been hard at work preparing new videos to help you get started with the RadControls for WPF and the RadControls for Silverlight, and there are more videos in the pipeline that will be online soon. For now, check out these freshly minted videos: Getting Started with RadWindow for WPF Getting Started with RadToolBar for WPF Getting Started with RadCombobox for WPF Getting Started with Telerik Drag & Drop for WPF Getting Started with RadScheduler for Silverlight Getting Started with RadChart for Silverlight (including 3D charting!) We hope you enjoy these "bite size" training videos and that they help you get the most out of your RadControls. Telerik TV is regularly being updated with new videos, so don't forget to subscribe to the Telerik TV RSS feed to catch all of the new videos as they're posted.

Telerik Sales Dashboard webinar wrap-up, Slides and Video

Miss today's Weekly Webinar? No problem. The on-demand resources are ready for your viewing pleasure both here on Telerik Watch and on Telerik TV. First, I'd like to thank those of you that took time out of your day to join the live event- hopefully we were able to answer your questions and you were able to extract some good learning. For everyone else, you missed a webinar that covered a lot. And since there is so much covered in this webinar, and since I know it can be challenging to decide if it's worth watching a 1 hour online video, here are some questions to ask yourself to help you make your decision:

• Do you want to know how to build an application for Silverlight or WPF that uses "enterprise grade" patterns?
• Do you want to see a "best practices" approach for structuring your Visual Studio solution when building a n-tier XAML application?
• Do you wish you knew more about Microsoft Prism and how to use it?
• Do you want to better understand what the MVVM pattern is all about?
• Do you you want to see the "proof" that the RadControls for Silverlight / WPF have 100% identical APIs and can be easily used to build one application and target both the desktop and the web?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this webinar has content for you. Check it out and then visit Telerik.com to learn more about the Telerik Sales Dashboard reference application. There you will even find links to explore the Silverlight and WPF versions of the Sales Dashboard on your own. Enjoy.

Write Once. Use Twice. Exploring the Telerik Sales Dashboard

[Slides (PDF)] [Sales Dashboard Source (External)]

Watch Sales Dashboard webinar in full resolution on Telerik TV

Weekly Webinar: Exploring the Telerik Sales Dashboard for Silverlight and WPF

This week's webinar is back in my court and the topic will be Telerik's new Sales Dashboard demo application. If you've not already seen it, the Telerik Sales Dashboard is a new "best practices" application that Telerik created that highlights the value of the common code base and shared API of the RadControls for Silverlight and WPF. It shows you how you can build an application with enterprise-quality patterns and practices that- thanks to the RadControls- can be easily targeted at WPF, XBAP, or Silverlight deployments. Among the things the Sales Dashboard shows you:

• Using Microsoft Prism for application composition
• Use of MVVM (Model View ViewModel) pattern
• Using the RadControls for Silverlight, WPF
• Reusing Silverlight app code in WPF (and XBAP)
• Using Telerik OpenAccess ORM for data access
• Exposing data to Silverlight/WPF through WCF services

In this Thursday's webinar, we'll explore this application, highlighting some of the unique aspects of its implementation that you can draw upon to build better XAML applications. We'll explain the basics of things like Prism and the MVVM pattern, helping you get up-to-speed on these popular XAML frameworks. Finally, we'll even build a simple Silverlight application and port it to WPF during the webinar to drive-home how easy the task is with the RadControls. Should be fun and information packed. The webinar is at the normal 11 AM Eastern, this Thursday, June 11th. It will be recorded and will be on TTV shortly after the live event. Register now to save your seat and I'll see you on Thursday. Register for Sales Dashboard webinar now

Weekly Webinar: Using RadTreeView for WPF

Ready for another Telerik Weekly Webinar? This week the topic is "Using RadTreeView for WPF," and Telerik Developer Evangelist John Kellar will be your guide to this key WPF control. Among the topics that will be covered during this free, live event:

• Data biding
• Implementing Drag-and-Drop
• Editing Node Templates

The event will be at the "normal" Weekly Webinar time: Thursday, April 30th, 11:00 AM Eastern, and it will be recorded for Telerik TV, too. To reserve your seat, register now. For those of you looking for the "RadControls for Silverlight in ASP.NET" weekly webinar, it has been moved to next week. That said, if you want to make sure you get your seat for next week's Weekly Webinar, you can register today and then join the Silverlight fun next Thursday. So quick recap:

• This Week: "Using RadTreeView for WPF" Register Now
• Next Week: "RadControls for Silverlight in ASP.NET" Register Now

We hope you are enjoying these free training resources. If you have any feedback, always feel free to share. My email address is easy to find: anglin[at]telerik[dot]com.

Two free Telerik webcasts THIS WEEK, Reporting and WPF

Open your calendars and get ready to jot down two important (free) events this week. Telerik is hosting two webcasts this week, one on Telerik Reporting (rescheduled from last week) and one on RadGridView for WPF. Both events are 100% free. Both are lead by Telerik Evangelists- so these are developer talks, not sales talks. Both are at 11:00 AM EST. If you want to maximize your Telerik learning, sign-up for these events now to reserve your seat. And don't delay, the first webcast is tommorrow (Tuesday)! Register for Telerik Reporting Webinar ("Reporting 101") Date: Tuesday, Feb 3rd, 2009 @ 11 AM EST (Tommorrow!) Register for Telerik WPF Webinar ("Getting Started with RadGridView for WPF") Date: Thursday, Feb 5th, 2009 @ 11 AM EST A quick note about the time (since a few people have asked). We're hosting these webcasts at 11:00 AM EST so we can enable as many people as possible on this vast round globe of ours to attend the live event. When an event is held at 11:00 AM EST, that means it's 8:00 AM PST (the beginning of the workday), 10:00 AM CST, and 4:00 PM GMT (that's London, for the unfamiliar). I know this doesn't work for everybody- no time does- so we will be making these recordings available on Telerik TV shortly after the live event. Hope that helps and I hope to see you at the live events!

New SPs available for Telerik Silverlight and WPF controls

Listen-up all you XAML developers. There are two new service packs available from Telerik this week that are just for you. First, the RadControls for Silverlight suite has received its second service pack (making this Q3 2008 SP2, for the record) and a special "futures" build with some previews of controls coming in Q1 2009. The service pack is your "standard" bug-fix SP with the addition of some improvements to the Silverlight "Vista" theme and a brand new "Office Black" theme. The "futures" build includes two controls: RadDocking for Silverlight CTP and RadGridView for Silverlight Beta. When installing the latest bits, you should use the SP2 installer OR the Futures installer. You cannot install both. The SP2 release is just a subset of the Futures release (sans the new controls), so for most, installing the "Futures" build probably makes the most sense. For WPF, this week brings the Q3 2008 Service Pack 1. The WPF SP has got a little more happening than the Silverlight SP2, and the bulk of the fixes can be found in the RadScheduler for WPF. There you'll find improvements in the drag/drop experience, the templating support, and even a new demo showing you how to use XML data with the Scheduler. Other controls getting some attention in this SP are the RadGridView, RadCarousel, and RadChart for WPF. All controls, like Silverlight, also received the new Office Black theme, so now that theme can be used with any Silverlight or WPF RadControl. There's tons to talk about with these releases- especially with the new Silverlight Docking and GridView controls- so stay tuned for more detailed posts focusing on those controls. Until then, check out the release notes and download the SP bits today!

New Telerik WPF charting and gauges on Channel 9

While at PDC last week, Vladimir Milev and I had the chance to spend about five minutes with Adam Kinney from Microsoft to show-off Telerik's new 2D and 3D charting engine for WPF. Adam caught the entire exchange on video and that video is now live for your viewing pleasure on Channel 9. If you haven't been paying attention, as part of Telerik's Q3 release, Telerik shipped a brand new charting engine for WPF that enables you to do some pretty cool data visualizations. You can animate your chart loading, build 3D charts (even using your own 3D models), and, of course, render all of the different chart types you typically need in an LOB app. We also shipped new XAML-based RadGauges for WPF and Silverlight that enable you to easily add gauge visualizations to your projects. You can download all of this stuff now by visiting the new Telerik.com. A video is worth 10,000 words, though, so check out the video on Channel 9 or catch an embedded version after the break!

RadControls for WPF service pack released

For those of you already building cutting-edge applications with WPF and Telerik's RadControls for WPF, there is a new service pack out that you should check out. Officially released yesterday, the first service pack for the Q2 2008 RadControls for WPF is mostly a bug-fix release. There are a few added small features to RadGridView and RadNumericUpDown, but there no significant new features or new controls in this maintenance release. So, I guess this is release is more like a "Vista SP1" than a ".NET 3.5 SP1." Either way, you can check out the release notes for all the nitty-gritty details and then download the updated bits directly from your Client.net accounts.

Looking Ahead: Q3 Road Maps posted for WinForms, Silverlight, WPF

With Q2 2008 soundly behind us, it's time to turn our attention to the quickly approaching Q3 2008 release. The next (and last) release for 2008 is currently scheduled to ship in early November, so we're less than 10 weeks away from another major Telerik release. The Q3 release is going to be a big one, too! There's a number of big things happening around the time of Q3- a few of which shall remain "secret" until a later date- but we can talk today about the plans for the RadControls for WinForms, Silverlight, and WPF.

The public road maps for all of these suites have been updated on Telerik.com, but since I like to make your lives as easy as possible, here are some highlights:

RadControls for WinForms

• New! RadScheduler for WinForms
• New! RadPrompt and RadConfirm for WinForms
• Major improvements in RadGridView
• Multi-row column headers
• Cell merge/span
• Optimized support for 100's of columns
• Major refactoring in RadDock
• Performance improvements across entire theming engine

RadControls for Silverlight

• New! RadGrid for Silverlight (ported from WPF version)
• New! RadTimePicker, RadDock, and RadContextMenu for Silverlight
• New drag-and-drop manager for all controls
• New animation framework for all controls
• New theming engine for all controls
• Vastly expanded documentation and examples

RadControls for WPF

• New! RadScheduler for WPF
• New! RadChart and RadGauges for WPF
• New themes for all controls
• Expanded documentation and new demo framework (a.k.a. QSF)

Check out the road map links below for more details and then stay tuned for more details on the ASP.NET AJAX, Sitefinity, and Reporting road maps for Q3.

RadControls for WinForms

RadControls for Silverlight

RadControls for WPF

RadControls for WPF and Silverlight Webcast follow-up

For those that missed it, we had a great webcast this past Thursday talking about the new RadControls for WPF and Silverlight. Over 200 people turned-out (thank you!) to hear about these new technologies and how Telerik is building tools to support them. If you missed the live event, though, don't fret. There are tons of on-demand resources now available for your enjoyment. First, I took the time today to answer all of the questions that were asked during the session. The questions (almost 70) and answers are available in a freshly minted 10-page PDF. Hopefully you find the answers helpful on your quest to understand WPF, Silverlight, and Telerik's plans for both. Next, the slides from the session are also available for immediate download. If you want to browse the PowerPoint content at your own pace, grab the slides and then find answers to your questions in the aforementioned PDF. Finally, the complete recorded, on-demand version of the webcast is also now available for your viewing pleasure (with audio, for those that missed the webcast dial-in number). To watch the on-demand webcast, simply visit the original registration link, fill-in your details, and then the recorded version will start. The player does require Real Media in your browser, so if you don't have (and don't want) that installed on your PC, we'll be making a Flash-based on-demand version available as soon as we can. Enjoy the on-demand resources and keep it locked-in here for more free webcasts in the coming weeks!

Telerik Watch Minute: WPF Futures, Code Stock, Telerik Evangelism

Hope you enjoy the latest installment of Telerik Watch Minute. For now, the format will probably bounce between "news" updates (like today's edition) and short "micro-screencasts" (like the last TWM) that show you how specific features of Telerik controls work. If one format emerges as being more popular than the other, I'll try to give it more weight in the future. Otherwise, enjoy today's TWM update and keep the feedback coming! Link from video: www.codestock.org

RadControls for WPF Futures available for download

Was our Q2 2008 release of RadControls for WPF not enough for you? Do you want to look in to the future to see what's coming later this year in the WPF space from Telerik? You do? Good. The RadControls for WPF Futures build is for you and it is loaded with some cool features and new controls that will become official in a few months. Included in the WPF Futures build are:

• RadChart for WPF - our new 2D/3D charting solution for WPF (check out my preview video)
• Gauges for WPF - our first official entry in the gauges space
• RadScheduler for WPF - want a scheduler UI on the desktop?

All of the controls previewed in this build are obviously in early preview stage- thus the "Futures" build- so expect release quality to be significantly higher. Still, the early work is very impressive. Download the Futures build now (login required) to play with the new controls and then share your feedback in the forums. Do you like where we're headed with WPF?

NOTE: You can also play with a live demo of the Futures build [warning FF users: XBAP link]

RadChart for WPF CTP sneak peek video

One of the new products that Telerik will be releasing next week during the big Q2 2008 release activities is our brand new charting product for WPF. Officially dubbed RadChart for WPF, our latest entry in the charting field is really stepping-up what Telerik has done in the past with charts. The new charting engine is going to deliver unprecedented 3D and 2D charting capabilities in a characteristically easy to learn and use Telerik component package. Everything from directional light sources to animated charts to gauges will be part of the new data visualization package, so we think you're really going to enjoy the new tools.

Now, what's being released next week during Q2 won't be version one. Instead, it will be a CTP that's designed to give you an early preview of our work in this arena. The final release will likely coincide with our Q3 release later this year. And while we wait for that date, Telerik will be actively listening to your feedback and striving to build the most useful charting tools you need.

And don't forget Silverlight! Remember, we build our WPF and Silverlight controls on the same code base. That means you'll eventually see RadChart for Silverlight, too, and when you do the API will be nearly identical to RadChart for WPF (though some of the more advanced 3D features may not be available in Silverlight, for obvious reasons). That means code you write for RadChart for WPF will be reusable in all of your Silverlight applications and vice versa. That should impress your boss and make your life a lot easier when management comes asking for a web version of your cool WPF application.

Download the RadChart for WPF CTP next week and start letting us know what you think! Until then, check out this quick sneak peek video I've created to give you a glimpse of the features we'll be packing-in to next week's CTP.

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!

RadControls for WPF Beta 2 available for download

This highlight comes a little late, but I don't want anyone interested in what Telerik is doing for WPF to miss this. Last week Telerik released the second beta of our RadControls for WPF. This beta is the last public preview before the first official v1 release in Q2 2008, so it's your last chance to give us input on how you'd like the controls to be tweaked before their APIs become "set in stone" (or at least much harder to change).

One of the highlights of the beta 2 release is the first introduction to Telerik's highly coupled Silverlight and WPF development approach. There are 5 new controls in beta 2, and all of the controls are ported versions of controls that we have built for Silverlight. The benefit of this approach for you as a developer is that you get complete code reusability between your RadControls for WPF and RadControls for Silverlight development. If you build your app with Telerik's tools for Silverlight and then want to build a WPF version of the app, all of your UI coding work is done. Cool.

The new controls in this release are RadTreeView, RadPanelBar, RadSlider, RadNumericUpDown, and RadProgressBar. By the time we ship v1 in a few weeks, there will be even more new controls in the WPF suite and more enhanced features in the existing controls, RadGridView, RadCarousel, and RadCalendar. And shortly after v1 in Q2 2008, we'll ship a Futures release for the RadControls for WPF that will feature our early work on RadScheduler for WPF. Exciting times.

For now, enjoy the beta bits and get ready for the official release during Telerik's big Q2 2008 release week.

IE Users: Try the RadControls for Beta 2 online demo (XBAP)
Fifefox users beware- XBAP links usually crash the Fox for me.

RadControls for WPF Beta released!

As promised in my recent TechEd post, here is the first of several exciting announcements Telerik will be making over the next week or so: Telerik has officially released the first beta of its brand new RadControls for WPF! If you've been waiting for WPF to gain the tools it needs to be a competitive alternative to your traditional WinForms development, Telerik's entrance in to this market should make your choice a lot easier. This first beta is only introducing a few controls, though, so don't expect a full toolbox right now. We've been investing a lot of energy in to building a super-high performance WPF data grid for this initial release, but as we move closer to the official release in Q2 you can count on more controls filling-out the suite. Included in the first beta are:

• RadGridView for WPF
• RadCarousel for WPF
• RadCalendar for WPF

We'll be showing-off these new controls at TechEd next week, but if you want to play with them now, you can! Simply visit the RadControls for WPF online demos page. That's right, online demos. We've made the WPF demos available as a browser-accessible XBAP application so you can check the demos out without the need for an install. The demo application is about 11MB and it only takes a few minutes to download and startup over a broadband connection. You'll also need IE7 to view the demos (for now), so Firefox users take note- XBAPs have actually crashed Firefox for me when I accidentally try to load them.

I hope you enjoy the early preview of our work for WPF. We've obviously got a ways to go before things are release quality, but we're working very quickly. The first "official" release of the RadControls for WPF is currently targeting our big Q2 release- less than 10 weeks away!