14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has made a range of resources available for download in an effort to streamline the process of leveraging the Windows 7 evolution, focusing, among other aspects of the operating system, on the Aero graphical user interface advances. An illustrative example in this context is what the Redmond company referred to as an intermediate solution addressing managed code developers specifically. The Taskbar Sample .NET Interop Library is a new managed code wrapper that Microsoft hopes will make the lives of managed code developers easier.
“The Taskbar Sample .NET Interop Library allows developers to: create and manipulate JumpLists including tasks and items; display Dynamic Overlay Icons, Thumbnail Toolbars; use the Taskbar progress bar; control Custom Thumbnail Preview, and custom Preview also known as – AeroPeek,” revealed Yochay Kiriaty, Windows 7 technical evangelist on the Client Platform Evangelist Group.
Windows 7 brings to the table an array of enhancements when it comes down to the Aero GUI in comparison to what was available in Windows Vista. Developers will be able to leverage the evolved Taskbar, and new features specific to Windows 7. JumpLists are designed as mini start menus tailored for applications pinned on the Superbar. With the JumpLists, programs can show the user the most recently opened files, but also allow items to be pinned to an app.
The Windows 7 Superbar also comes with fully interactive Thumbnail Previews, simplifying navigation across opened windows and tabs on the desktop. AeroPeek allows users to focus on a single desktop item, no matter its position in relation to all other opened applications, while desktop windows are turned to transparent glass. Microsoft applications such as Internet Explorer 8, Paint, Wordpad, and the rest of the default components of Windows 7 already offer extended functionality tailored to the operating system's evolved Aero GUI. With the Taskbar Sample .NET Interop Library third-party developers are now able to adapt their own applications to what the next iteration of Windows has to offer.