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On Nov 4, 2003, at 8:21 PM, Didier PH Martin wrote:
> Hi Simon,
>
> OK let's pretent Microsoft is re-inventing the wheel. So, can you tell
> us
> what is the wheel that will be replaced? What XML rendering language
> is to
> be replaced by XAML.
>
XForms for conventional data input, SVG for vector graphics, XML+CSS
for rendering, XHTML+DOM for dynamic "browser" pages?
I have two thoughts on all this:
- Scales fell from my eyes when HTML + the FORM stuff came along;
instead of a conventional GUI with cryptic instructions and some pop-up
help that was usually not at all context sensitive, you got a DOCUMENT
that explained what to do, then some simple GUI controls to do it.
Granted that's lame if you are doing the same thing over and over and
don't need the explanation, but who really cares? That "document is
the UI" metaphor is very powerful to me, and (judging by the success of
the Web) a few hundred million others
- Assuming for the moment that HTML does sortof suck as a GUI (as a
user, I've never worried much about it except when entering a fair
amount of text, but let's grant the point) ... wouldn't it suck less if
IE supported CSS well, XForms at all, and all the other points Tim Bray
makes in http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/11/01/XAML-Huh ?
Other than the usual black helicopter conspiracy reasons, why Avalon
rather than a kick-ass implementation of the Web standards? Or why not
Avalon for a VB replacement, but kick-ass Web implementations for the
browser, and let the customers choose the right tool for the job?
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