July 2011
Contents
The most fun thing about computer technology is that it's always changing, always showing us a whole new side. And it's doing so in shorter and shorter time frames. These are rollercoaster-wild, fascinating times to be designing and building software.
Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft, recently told a group of developers that "if you can't get excited about waking up every day in this industry and reinventing what worked yesterday, you're in the wrong business." Discounting the fact that it might be easier to get excited when you have 20,000 Microsoft developers waking up with you to look after the niggly bits, Kevin is spot on with his core tenet: If developers can't bring passion to the party, they'll find themselves chasing the caboose.
We're passionate about Morning Flight. In Flight Plan for the Cloud, we want to share our excitement by unveiling some of the things we're busy reinventing.
Windows 8: Microsoft is betting the farm on Azure, their version of the cloud, to which end they're now recasting Windows. At first glance, the early previews suggest a supersized, nice enough smartphone for adults. But the real story lies behind the fancy touchscreens: The power it will bring to developers. The trifecta of tablets, cloud, and Windows 8 will forever change how we use computers.
Hal Heindel
Unitac International Inc.
Windows 8 - Look what's coming
When CEO Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft's total embrace of cloud computing last year, he signaled the reinvention of a company still primarily known for its Windows and Office software. "This is the bet for the company," he said. "For the cloud, we're all in." Windows 8, or whatever it will be called eventually, is the engine that will power the Microsoft makeover.
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Tip of the Month
Changing a Book Format to Landscape Morning Flight controls are generally accessible and intuitive. Here is one even Seal Team Six might have trouble locating: The button you push to change a booklet to landscape. We'll clear that up in the next version. For now, this is how you set the format of a booklet: |
Method 1 - Enter the long dimension first. The yellow bullet tells you it's landscape.
Method 2 - Just place the cursor over the numbers and click.
Yes, you could have looked that up in the manual. And, no, we don't read those things either - except now and then, as a last resort.