What is going to happen with UIP?

Guess what. I started getting this question every month, then every week, then every day… now I get it every hour J, through different means: e-mail, blogs, e-mail threads I get included, communities.

So, I figured it would make sense to publish a clear statement and be a little bit more transparent.

The first half of the year 2006 was really dedicated to the Smart Client offerings: Desktop and Mobile. You probably noticed that already.

Now that we shipped both Software Factories, the team is focusing almost exclusively on the web space and a key deliverable we are currently planning is migration guidance for UIP. That is migration content for users currently using UIP on .NET 1.1 that want to move their application forward to ASP.NET 2.0 and probably using Workflow Foundation.

The complete deliverable for the web space will most probably be very similar to the rest of the factories from the content perspective (How-tos, Guidance Packages, a Reference Implementation, etc.). UIP migration will be a specifically called-out content though.

At this point we are in the initial planning of the project and in the process of collecting feedback from you guys. Anything you would like to share with us, let us know!!

One of the things I’m working on right now is a (hopefully) short list of the most frequent and complex challenges if Web App Development that then we will post as a (short and sweet) survey for you to answer. In the meantime, if you have the time to write me an e-mail with what your experience has been and where you’d like us to invest, please do so! And don't forget to set priorities.

Also remember, don’t send me code. Send me a description of your problems and what you’d like us to solve instead, and stay tuned to our communities (like UIP)

Last but not least, UIP is still supported of course as any other patterns & practices offering.