Comments for The Agile Micro ISV Blog http://www.agilemicroisv.com Small fish. Big pond. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:05:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Vista, UAC and the ClickOnce Bootstrapper by how to fix computer errors http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2008/11/vista-uac-and-the-clickonce-bootstrapper/comment-page-1/#comment-811 how to fix computer errors Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:05:18 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2008/11/vista-uac-and-the-clickonce-bootstrapper.html #comment-811 Hi I found this site by mistake when i was searching Google for this issue, I must say your site is really helpful I also love the design, its amazing!. I don't have the time at the moment to fully read your site but I have bookmarked your site and also add your RSS feeds. I will be back in a day or two. thanks for a great site. Hi I found this site by mistake when i was searching Google for this issue, I must say your site is really helpful I also love the design, its amazing!. I don’t have the time at the moment to fully read your site but I have bookmarked your site and also add your RSS feeds. I will be back in a day or two. thanks for a great site.

]]> Comment on Listing Your Competition by Vaclav Zahradnik http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2010/02/listing-your-competition/comment-page-1/#comment-796 Vaclav Zahradnik Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:51:25 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=359#comment-796 I've actually seen this on a competitor's site of mine. It has a form of a feature matrix inside a wiki page, so anyone can modify it. Legally it's probably ok, at least in EU it is. The page itself has good ranking and I receive some traffic from it too so generally I don't have much against it, but still I keep wondering. Lots of useless features are listed for some products and many great features that can't be just summarized into have/don't have are missing. So I'm not such a fan of those comparisons if it's not done in some article with further explanations of areas in what each product excels. I’ve actually seen this on a competitor’s site of mine. It has a form of a feature matrix inside a wiki page, so anyone can modify it. Legally it’s probably ok, at least in EU it is. The page itself has good ranking and I receive some traffic from it too so generally I don’t have much against it, but still I keep wondering. Lots of useless features are listed for some products and many great features that can’t be just summarized into have/don’t have are missing. So I’m not such a fan of those comparisons if it’s not done in some article with further explanations of areas in what each product excels.

]]> Comment on Listing Your Competition by mokosh http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2010/02/listing-your-competition/comment-page-1/#comment-790 mokosh Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:49:09 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=359#comment-790 I never seen a list of competition on a product website, but what I have seen is the separate website and domain created where similar products are listed and rated (mostly open source competition, probably because of possible legal issues). One example is www.agile-tools.net published by creators of TargetProcess. The website was created to score well for searches such as 'which agile tool' and 'agile tools comparison'. I think that this approach is better than listing your competition directly on your page since the later may cause your prospects to loose momentum and navigate away from you to research more about others - something you don't really want. Cheers, Jarek I never seen a list of competition on a product website, but what I have seen is the separate website and domain created where similar products are listed and rated (mostly open source competition, probably because of possible legal issues). One example is http://www.agile-tools.net published by creators of TargetProcess. The website was created to score well for searches such as ‘which agile tool’ and ‘agile tools comparison’. I think that this approach is better than listing your competition directly on your page since the later may cause your prospects to loose momentum and navigate away from you to research more about others – something you don’t really want.

Cheers,
Jarek

]]> Comment on Two’s Company by Brian Haas http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/12/twos-company/comment-page-1/#comment-744 Brian Haas Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:43:54 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=355#comment-744 We have two apps, one written in WinForms and one in WPF. When making the decision to use WPF, the deciding factor for me was databinding, XAML, and Silverlight. WPF databinding rocks, and I think its the most beneficial non-visual advantage. My first impression with WPF was that Microsoft accomplished their goal of "best of winforms, best of the web", however after using it for over a year, there are definite painpoints. As Tim points out, cold start times are painful. Also, debugging is often more difficult as the framework is extensive, especially around weak references and our use of the command infrastructure. And finally, our solution will eventually lead us to web work and the investiment in WPF and XAML technology will hopefully pay off as we look to utilize Silverlight in a web UI to avoid javascript based business logic. One more note on WPF. I had a customer request support because our app UI was not rendering properly. Double visuals and cutoff panels. The solution was to update his video driver! As a business app developer, that was a first for me. You wont have that problem with WinForms. We have two apps, one written in WinForms and one in WPF. When making the decision to use WPF, the deciding factor for me was databinding, XAML, and Silverlight. WPF databinding rocks, and I think its the most beneficial non-visual advantage. My first impression with WPF was that Microsoft accomplished their goal of “best of winforms, best of the web”, however after using it for over a year, there are definite painpoints. As Tim points out, cold start times are painful. Also, debugging is often more difficult as the framework is extensive, especially around weak references and our use of the command infrastructure. And finally, our solution will eventually lead us to web work and the investiment in WPF and XAML technology will hopefully pay off as we look to utilize Silverlight in a web UI to avoid javascript based business logic.

One more note on WPF. I had a customer request support because our app UI was not rendering properly. Double visuals and cutoff panels. The solution was to update his video driver! As a business app developer, that was a first for me. You wont have that problem with WinForms.

]]> Comment on SSL and Code Signing for the Micro ISV by Giammarco Schisani http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/10/ssl-and-code-signing-for-the-micro-isv/comment-page-1/#comment-740 Giammarco Schisani Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:11:30 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=349#comment-740 Thank you Tim. I need to get code signing for my application, and this is definitely better for my pocket compared to Verisign, Thawte and similar. Thank you Tim. I need to get code signing for my application, and this is definitely better for my pocket compared to Verisign, Thawte and similar.

]]> Comment on Two’s Company by The MicroISV Digest http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/12/twos-company/comment-page-1/#comment-739 The MicroISV Digest Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:40:25 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=355#comment-739 [...] for feedback on a product idea, and while I normally don’t cover idea feedback requests, Tim has helped a lot of people at Business of Software over the years and deserves your feedback and [...] [...] for feedback on a product idea, and while I normally don’t cover idea feedback requests, Tim has helped a lot of people at Business of Software over the years and deserves your feedback and [...]

]]> Comment on Two’s Company by Jose http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/12/twos-company/comment-page-1/#comment-733 Jose Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:55:13 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=355#comment-733 I pretty much wrote all my doubts about which path to take some months ago (http://www.nowfromhome.com/new-project-wpf-or-windows-forms/). The thing is that I'm still not 100% sure and your post made me rethink it again. It specially called my attention that you you said that it was a "mistake" and the fact that you are rewriting your UI. I'm entering a crowded niche. However 90% of the competition have very complex and intimidating UI. I'd like the GUI to be one of the differentiation points in my application. Ideally I'd like something like the Lawson M3 screenshot you can see on my post. The problem is that I'm not a designer and it's very likely to end up with a mess or a typical WinForms application. Anyway, I think I'm going to go with WPF. This is a mid-term project and it has to be fun. I also think that .NET 3.5 adoption is going to improve quickly. Also, what do you think about .NET 4 Client Profile? 30 Mb doesn't sound that bad (at least in my niche) and it is supposed to improve WPF performance as well. I pretty much wrote all my doubts about which path to take some months ago (http://www.nowfromhome.com/new-project-wpf-or-windows-forms/).

The thing is that I’m still not 100% sure and your post made me rethink it again. It specially called my attention that you you said that it was a “mistake” and the fact that you are rewriting your UI.

I’m entering a crowded niche. However 90% of the competition have very complex and intimidating UI. I’d like the GUI to be one of the differentiation points in my application. Ideally I’d like something like the Lawson M3 screenshot you can see on my post. The problem is that I’m not a designer and it’s very likely to end up with a mess or a typical WinForms application.

Anyway, I think I’m going to go with WPF. This is a mid-term project and it has to be fun. I also think that .NET 3.5 adoption is going to improve quickly. Also, what do you think about .NET 4 Client Profile? 30 Mb doesn’t sound that bad (at least in my niche) and it is supposed to improve WPF performance as well.

]]> Comment on Two’s Company by Tim Haughton http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/12/twos-company/comment-page-1/#comment-732 Tim Haughton Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:24:38 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=355#comment-732 Hi Jose, the main reasons *for me* are: 1 - Over 50% of all visitors to the Home Document Manager website use Windows XP. About 20% use Vista and 20% Windows 7. I can target v2.0 of the framework with a clear conscience with Winforms in the knowledge that I'm not adding bulk to my download. 2 - WPF's cold start times suck. The prettiest splash screens in the world won't alter that fact. It's not as big a problem in B2B world, but when you're selling to Joe Public, a perceived sluggishness at startup is another reason for them to buy your snappy native C++ based competitor. 3 - Third party WinForms UI components are more advanced and more mature. DevExpress in particular. I'm not creating an "out-there" UI in my apps. They look and feel like Windows applications, so I don't need WPF's awesome UI power. I can't think of a reason *to* use WPF for B2C apps at the minute. YMMV. I'd love to know which way you decide to go, and why. Hi Jose, the main reasons *for me* are:

1 – Over 50% of all visitors to the Home Document Manager website use Windows XP. About 20% use Vista and 20% Windows 7. I can target v2.0 of the framework with a clear conscience with Winforms in the knowledge that I’m not adding bulk to my download.

2 – WPF’s cold start times suck. The prettiest splash screens in the world won’t alter that fact. It’s not as big a problem in B2B world, but when you’re selling to Joe Public, a perceived sluggishness at startup is another reason for them to buy your snappy native C++ based competitor.

3 – Third party WinForms UI components are more advanced and more mature. DevExpress in particular.

I’m not creating an “out-there” UI in my apps. They look and feel like Windows applications, so I don’t need WPF’s awesome UI power. I can’t think of a reason *to* use WPF for B2C apps at the minute. YMMV.

I’d love to know which way you decide to go, and why.

]]> Comment on Two’s Company by Jose http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/12/twos-company/comment-page-1/#comment-731 Jose Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:12:18 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=355#comment-731 Hi Tim, I'd really like to know what problems did you face using WPF that drive you to the conclusion that choosing that technology was a mistake. I'm planning a new product and I'm leaning towards WPF even though I'm a WinForms guy. Hope you can comment on this. Hi Tim,

I’d really like to know what problems did you face using WPF that drive you to the conclusion that choosing that technology was a mistake. I’m planning a new product and I’m leaning towards WPF even though I’m a WinForms guy.

Hope you can comment on this.

]]> Comment on SSL and Code Signing for the Micro ISV by Mitchel Haas http://www.agilemicroisv.com/2009/10/ssl-and-code-signing-for-the-micro-isv/comment-page-1/#comment-730 Mitchel Haas Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:12:33 +0000 http://www.agilemicroisv.com/?p=349#comment-730 Thank you Tim! I was dreading the purchase of a code certificate in the next few weeks, thinking 'when will it ever stop'. It's already hard to for a small misv to make ends meet without all these extra expenses! You just saved me over a hundred bucks, which is around the cost of the *next* least expensive place to get a code certificate. Plus, an inexpensive place to get web site ssl certs to boot! I am, though, a little curious of the (beta) for code certificates, and may have to inquire into what that's all about. Thank you Tim!
I was dreading the purchase of a code certificate in the next few weeks, thinking ‘when will it ever stop’. It’s already hard to for a small misv to make ends meet without all these extra expenses! You just saved me over a hundred bucks, which is around the cost of the *next* least expensive place to get a code certificate.

Plus, an inexpensive place to get web site ssl certs to boot!

I am, though, a little curious of the (beta) for code certificates, and may have to inquire into what that’s all about.

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