Backtalk: A Continuing Dialog on the Development Library and Platform

Melinda Hohlbein

July 13, 1995

You are the master of all that you survey. Now go eat your vegetables, pay those bills on time, clean out that closet, and call your mother.

You get the gist here. Now, having to remember tons of rules and things wouldn't be so bad if they weren't always changing. I expect any day now for the American Foundation for the Revelation of Shocking Food Truths to announce that we should be using expressed dandelion oil for cooking because it is the lowest in saturated fat.

Now truth be told, software development is no different. You've got your OLE, your ODBC, your RDBMS, your SPAM, your...(well, you get the point). These pesky technologies are always changing and sometimes even getting more cool. AND you've got to stay on top of it all to COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY in the programming business.

That's where we come in. When you develop for Windows, there's really only one rule to remember: "Do unto others"—no, wait a minute. It's "Never let 'em see you sweat"—no, that's not quite right either. Ah, yes, THE Golden Rule to know is, "Belong to the Microsoft Developer Network." We'll try to see to it that you have what you need to write your basic, stunning application. We can even help with all that confusing legal mumbo-jumbo such as codum ad libem, codum ad nauseam, and codum chock full o' bugae.

There is one more eensy teensy tiny little rule you need to abide by, which is, of course, SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK. We need your feedback to help us accomplish monumental things, such as increasing the effectiveness of lawn fertilizer. We also rely on your comments (the more candid the better) to help us drive the Developer Network program, so don't sit on your ideas, eh? Now, without further adieu, here's the Developer Network member Q & A, which is the primary purpose of this column (well, it's also an integral part of my raison d'être).

Splitting hairs and CD-ROMs

Ernest Amarath of a city that shall remain nameless faxed us and said he didn't want to be politically incorrect, but were we completely deaf to customers' concerns about receiving too many CD-ROMs with Level 2 membership.

This happens to be a MAJOR change, and believe me when I say that it took us none too few cycles to figure out how to implement it without causing members unbearable pain. We have prevailed. For a detailed discussion of what we're doing to slash and not burn as many CDs as we currently do, let your fingers do the walking to the article "The Shape of Platforms to Come," MSDN_JRGRANT3 where our new BUM (business unit manager, that is), John Rae-Grant, weighs in with a column about our plans.

Note to Ernie: Not deaf, my boy, just careful. We know you guys would flay us if we botched the job.

Development Library browser gets a new name and another face-lift

Eat your heart out, Liz. By the time you read this, your July Development Library may have arrived—and it's going to make your socks roll up and down. It's got an updated browser, renamed InfoViewer (version 2.5 for those of you at home playing the Microsoft version number game along with us). Here are a few of the cool things you can expect to see:

• Copy text as RTF (including graphics—YES!)

• Pop-up menus¾a right-mouse-click away

• Microsoft Office standards (Find is now Query, and so on)

Also, be sure to pop in to Dr. GUI's Espresso Stand for a cup of 'feine and the latest on the Development Library.

Tea for two and T for early renewal too

One Rami Rasanen of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, wrote and asked us what the delay was regarding his T-shirt. He renewed his Developer Network membership early, and by gosh we should have sent him the Dr. GUI T-shirt as promised. He also threatened to stay "buck naked" in protest until the T-shirt arrives.

Frankly, Rami, we don't really want to know about your dressing habits, okay? And sorry about the delay, eh? As it turns out, so many of you renewed early that the T-shirt inventory dried up a little quicker than we expected and so caught us with our pants down, that is, shirts off. We have since finished the new design and produced several truckloads of these awesome shirts, so we won't be running out of inventory any time before the Federal budget is balanced.

Windows 95 updated shipment

Jason S. Short of Orlando, Florida, wrote and asked when the latest build of Windows 95 would ship to Developer Network Level 2 members. He also threw in some colorful metaphors that I'll leave to your imagination.

There's no need for ugliness. The Windows 95 shipment was set to go out in June.

Thanks for tuning in to Backtalk this issue; now I believe your mother is expecting a call. Don't be shy. Send us your comments, suggestions, whines, and moans.

Melinda Hohlbein relies on you to fill her head with crazy notions and wild ideas for improving the Developer Network. Don't disappoint her—she has a large, cranky Doberman.