Twelve New WPF Hands-On Labs Available for Download

Although Windows Presentation Foundation offers tremendous power to those who master it, for a newcomer the technology can be somewhat daunting. Particularly at this current time when the documentation isn't complete and the tools are only partially available, it's a common experience to install all the pre-requisite components and then think, "Now what?"

I'm pleased to announce the availability of twelve hands-on labs covering all major feature areas of Windows Presentation Foundation, available for download from the MSDN WinFX site (link goes directly to the MSI). These labs are updates of the ones we had available in PDC hands-on labs area, and they run on any of the most recent three monthly Community Technology Preview (CTP) releases of WinFX (i.e. Jan 06, Dec 05 and Nov 05). Here's a quick rundown of the titles, so you know what you're downloading and installing:

  • Building a Forms-Based Windows Presentation Foundation Application
  • Creating Rich 2D and 3D Content with Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Design and Styling in Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Using Data Binding in Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Using Imaging and Effects in Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Building Web Browser Applications with Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Programming XPS Documents
  • WinFX Printing and Archiving
  • Extending the XPS Document Viewing Experience
  • Moving Win32 Applications to Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Creating Custom Controls with Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Profiling Performance in Windows Presentation Foundation Applications

I've listed them in a rough semblance of order, but there's no strict dependencies between them. We used these labs at an internal technical readiness event, and my best estimate is that it would take the best part of a week to work through them all - so there's plenty there! If you have to pick a subset to work through, my three personal favorites are the 2D and 3D, styling and data binding labs - those three cut right to the heart of what WPF is about and they are all very well-written labs.

I'd love your feedback on these labs - please add it to the comments section below. We're currently working on the final versions of these labs that will be made available with the v1.0 release of WPF, so I'm keen to incorporate any constructive feedback I receive. I'd love to know even if you just ran the labs through successfully.