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Mar

31

My curtain call

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.


-Plato 


(I’ll let you decide which half applies.)


They say all good things must come to an end, and that is the case today:  I want to share with you the bittersweet news that I am moving on to a role outside Microsoft.  It’s a bit deflating to know that this constitutes my last post to the Windows Vista Team blog.  But by the same token, I’m thrilled, amazed and humbled at the success that this blog has become.  Our aim has always been to share the Windows story in an open and approachable manner.  Given the role we play today as a community resource, I’d wager that we’re doing pretty well in that regard.


While this good thing ends for me today, in actuality, it continues for you:  I leave you in the extremely knowledgeable and capable hands of my colleague Christopher Flores, a Director on the Windows Communications team.  Christopher has been with Microsoft for many years and will draw on a wealth of experience in his efforts to bring you the Windows story.  He arguably is even better positioned for this role than I, so I’m confident that, with Brandon’s help, he’ll continue bringing you the information and first-person accessibility you’ve come to expect from our blog.


It’s been a fun ride these two years and I thank you, our many readers, for your enthusiasm and support.  May our paths cross again, and until then, be well.


– Nick

Mar

27

Announcing the Windows Search 4.0 Preview

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To search for files on my PCs, I use Windows Search - Windows Vista’s desktop search feature. I use Windows Search specifically to find photos that I’ve tagged in Windows Live Photo Gallery or important emails and Word documents. I also rely on saving specific searches that I can go back to later on. Searching and being able to find important files quickly on my PC is very important to me.  And Windows Search allows me to “find my stuff” whenever I need to. Today we get to see a little “preview” of the next step for Windows Search. The Windows Search Team is making available Windows Search 4.0 Preview - a preview of the next version of desktop search for Windows.

Windows Search 4.0 introduces several improvements I’d like to call out making search even better in Windows Vista:



 Being able to find files isn’t just important to consumers - it is also important to IT Professionals managing enterprise environments. The Windows Search Team has made some improvements in Windows Search 4.0 that IT Professionals should take note of:



IT Professionals can expect a smooth deployment for Windows Search 4.0 and easier support.


With Windows Search 4.0, the Windows Search Team has taken the next step in improving the PC search experience in Windows. To download and check out the Windows Search 4.0 Preview yourself, click here. I encourage folks to try out the Windows Search 4.0 Preview and let us know what you think!

Mar

26

Panoramic Stitches from Around the Pacific Northwest

Category: Vista News | Leave a Comment

This last weekend, my friend and I headed into Central Washington State for a “Spring Break” roadtrip adventure. Our first stop was Seattle, and then we headed over the Snoqualmie Pass into Central Washington where we stopped by Grand Coulee Dam before heading down to the Tri-Cities area before heading home. I took with me my Dell XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED Laptop with me running of course Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED. I also took my Canon HV20 HD Camcorder, and a Canon Digital Rebel XTi - both of which are Certified for Windows Vista.

On the road, I focused mostly on photography. Many of the places we visited didn’t really work well for video and I didn’t feel me standing in front of the camera playing “tour guide” would be of any real value. I relied heavily of course on Windows Vista and Windows Live Photo Gallery to import and manage my photos. Because the Canon Digital Rebel XTi is Certified for Windows Vista - it was hassle free to import sometimes up to 400 pictures into Windows Live Photo Gallery. And the photos themselves averaged about 3MB each as I was shooting in the highest quality possible at 10.1 megapixels.


In using Windows Live Photo Gallery, I have the ability to create a panoramic stitch from the photos I took - probably my most favorite feature in Windows Live Photo Gallery. In shooting photos - I made sure I was shooting with the intent to create stitches. What does that mean really? I would take a picture from one angle, then the next, then the next - which would then allow for Windows Live Photo Gallery to create excellent stitches. I’ll probably do a video on exactly how I shoot for stitching later on.


So now I have a few really cool panoramic stitches to share of the places we stopped on our roadtrip. I go through them in chronological order with some commentary to add context to each photo.


While in Seattle, we ended up walking down to the waterfront from the Space Needle. I took this shot on the roof of the Bell Harbor Conference Center:


View from roof of Bell Harbor Conference Center


Later on, we decided to head on up to the observation deck of the Space Needle. I was able to get several awesome panoramic shots of Seattle from the top of the Space Needle. Here is the first series of shots I took - looking northwest out toward Puget Sound:


Looking Northwest over Puget Sound from Space Needle


Then I took some shots to create this shot overlooking Elliot Bay:


View of Puget Sound from Space Needle


This is Seattle and probably my favorite panoramic stitch of the Seattle bunch:


View of Seattle from the Space Needle


And finally this is looking east towards the Cascade Mountain Range. You can see Lake Union on the lower left:


View looking East from Space Needle


The next day - we headed over the Snoqualmie Pass toward Central Washington State and the Grand Coulee Dam. Up over the pass, it got quite snowy which was a nice (and interesting) change of scenery:


Snow on Snoqualmie Pass


About 100 miles later we were here overlooking the Columbia River near Vantage, WA:


View of Columbia River


Back on the road heading to Grand Coulee Dam - we ended up stopping in the middle of nowhere for this shot:


Middle of Nowhere


In Central Washington, there is quite a bit of interesting geological features (part of why we headed out here). Here is a panoramic shot of Dry Falls. Dry Falls about 10,000-15,000 years ago was a huge water fall carved out by ice age flooding. You can read more about the history of Dry Falls here. But to be here and see it in person was absolutely amazing:


Dry Falls


We finally reached Grand Coulee Dam. It’s pretty big. They say it is the largest concrete structure in the United States. And you can see - there is quite a bit of concrete! We wanted to get a dam tour but it so happens that the very day we drove hundreds of miles to see the dam was the day they decided to do maintenance on the elevators for the tours. This is another one of my favorite shots from the trip:


Grand Coulee Dam


Our trip ended the next day on Oregon Coast outside Tillamook, OR:


Oregon Coast


Hopefully you’ve enjoyed seeing these panoramic stitches of some of these amazing places. Creating your own stitches in Windows Live Photo Gallery is really easy too - all you need is a digital camera and to be able to import into Windows Live Photo Gallery. You can download Windows Live Photo Gallery, part of the Windows Live suite, here.


I’d like to give a shout out to Canon for loaning me the Canon Digital Rebel XTi for the trip. It is a pretty slick camera and as these shots show, it takes some pretty good photos. If you are looking for a DSLR - definitely take a look at this camera.

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