Hi,

  If you have ever doubted that XUL is the future,
check out the latest leaks about Microsoft's next
Windows version codenamed Longhorn.

  Hold your breath - Longhorn Betas will ship with a
built-in XUL motor this fall.

  Microsoft calls its new UI engine "Desktop
Composition Engine" and the UI markup "XML Application
Markup Language (XAML)".

  To quote from the CRN article by Paula Rooney titled
"Technical Beta Of Longhorn Windows With Aero, Avalon,
Indigo Due At PDC In Fall":

<quote>
The Longhorn compilers, for instance, will use XML
script files to create user-interface functions with a
few lines of XML code that before would have required
hundreds, if not thousands, of lines of C# coding. And
the Longhorn software developer kit, which is also due
out this fall, will come with prebuilt XML Application
Markup Language (XAML) schemas for many UI functions,
said sources briefed on Longhorn. 
</quote>

Microsoft will even add an XAML Visual Designer to
Visual Studio. To quote from another CRN article by
Paula Rooney titled "Microsoft Plans Win32 API
Cleanup, XAML Scripts For Next-Gen Windows":

<quote>
In addition to the XAML engine, Microsoft plans to
integrate an XAML visual designer in the next release
of Visual Studio. Net, code-named Whidbey. 
</quote>

Full story @
http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=41802
and
http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=41763

 - Gerald

PS: For more info about Longhorn checkout the article
"The Road to Windows Longhorn Part Two" on Paul
Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows online @ http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/longhorn_preview_2003.asp

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