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jut got back from a small extended weekend, so apologies for the reprint here (i'm sure it is all over the underbelly right now)...

see ScottGu post for full details...highlights:

  • "Atlas" v1.0 will ship before next release of VS
  • Features may be different than current CTP
  • Naming: Microsoft AJAX Library (Client), ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions (Server), ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit (Atlas control toolkit)

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nick pointed it our here that vista hit the rc1 milestone!  right now it is available for beta and early adopter program customers.  hopefully there will be information in a few weeks (or less) for a broader availability.

for developers, be on the lookout in your local area for installfests that may occur and get you running on the latest and greatest!

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tired of hacking around with registry entries on getting the 'command prompt here' on your context menu?

in vista, Shift + right click shows the 'Open Command Window here' option:

CommandWindow

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i haven't traveled in a while, so when i went on a recent trip this past week, i wasn't sure what the experience would be like in light of the recent threats in london, etc.

i had heard that 'no liquids' would be allowed on the plane.  i was only on a trip for overnight, so i just had a change of clothes and my overnight kit (which has toothpaste).  so i decided to ask if it needed to be checked...i was assured it did, so i checked it.

as i browse through the airport i see tons of people with their carry-on suitcases which surely have some type of overnight items in it?!?!  i am about to generalize, but i think it is a pretty fair assumption, but i did see several women with suitcases board a plane.  c'mon -- have you met a woman who doesn't at least have some form of gel, spray, make-up, liquid, etc. that they travel with?  i'm convinced that if i didn't ask, nobody would have said anything.

when i walked through the airport, the impact of the policy was clear as depicted in a few photos here:

Airport Security Impact 2

this is the sign posted all over the place.  i took this picture at 'the body shop' whose #1 selling product is soap:

Airport Security Impact 3

needless to say the 5 times i passed the store, not a soul was even in there -- heck the warning signs they seemingly were required to display were larger than any sale or brand sign in their entire shop.  perhaps the funniest one i saw was on all the water stands:

Airport Security Impact 4

you can see the sign right above the water sales.  yeah, i know you may want to drink it before you get on the plane, but you can see the rack is fully stocked, and nobody was buying drinks wherever i went (outside of the restaurant areas).  it was very interesting to see the impact of the security on retail within these locations.

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in writing some plugins for windows live writer i started out creating a deployment package.  first, i suck at writing installers.  i rely on tools to do it for me.  for writer plugins, it really is a simple process to ensure the plugin is installed in the right directory, that's it.

so using the visual studio 2005 package project, i went about creating my msi.  add file, put destination directory, build.  when i run the msi, it takes FOREVER.  what gives?  why does a simple operation take so long.

it frustrated me, so i gave up and went to .  simple, lean, fast.  installer runs in nanoseconds (okay, not nano, but compared to msi, it is).

so someone enlighten me...what gives with MSI and simple operations?