RadControls for WPF Futures available for download

Was our Q2 2008 release of RadControls for WPF not enough for you? Do you want to look in to the future to see what's coming later this year in the WPF space from Telerik? You do? Good. The RadControls for WPF Futures build is for you and it is loaded with some cool features and new controls that will become official in a few months. Included in the WPF Futures build are:

• RadChart for WPF - our new 2D/3D charting solution for WPF (check out my preview video)
• Gauges for WPF - our first official entry in the gauges space
• RadScheduler for WPF - want a scheduler UI on the desktop?

All of the controls previewed in this build are obviously in early preview stage- thus the "Futures" build- so expect release quality to be significantly higher. Still, the early work is very impressive. Download the Futures build now (login required) to play with the new controls and then share your feedback in the forums. Do you like where we're headed with WPF?

NOTE: You can also play with a live demo of the Futures build [warning FF users: XBAP link]

RadControls for WPF Beta 2 available for download

This highlight comes a little late, but I don't want anyone interested in what Telerik is doing for WPF to miss this. Last week Telerik released the second beta of our RadControls for WPF. This beta is the last public preview before the first official v1 release in Q2 2008, so it's your last chance to give us input on how you'd like the controls to be tweaked before their APIs become "set in stone" (or at least much harder to change).

One of the highlights of the beta 2 release is the first introduction to Telerik's highly coupled Silverlight and WPF development approach. There are 5 new controls in beta 2, and all of the controls are ported versions of controls that we have built for Silverlight. The benefit of this approach for you as a developer is that you get complete code reusability between your RadControls for WPF and RadControls for Silverlight development. If you build your app with Telerik's tools for Silverlight and then want to build a WPF version of the app, all of your UI coding work is done. Cool.

The new controls in this release are RadTreeView, RadPanelBar, RadSlider, RadNumericUpDown, and RadProgressBar. By the time we ship v1 in a few weeks, there will be even more new controls in the WPF suite and more enhanced features in the existing controls, RadGridView, RadCarousel, and RadCalendar. And shortly after v1 in Q2 2008, we'll ship a Futures release for the RadControls for WPF that will feature our early work on RadScheduler for WPF. Exciting times.

For now, enjoy the beta bits and get ready for the official release during Telerik's big Q2 2008 release week.

IE Users: Try the RadControls for Beta 2 online demo (XBAP)
Fifefox users beware- XBAP links usually crash the Fox for me.

Q2 2008 Futures release now live

Want to be among the first to play with the changes coming to the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX in Q2 2008? If so, you need to download the just released "Futures" build for the ASP.NET AJAX controls (read my old post for clarification of the "Futures" term- we'll probably revert to the term "Beta" next year...maybe). This release showcases everything that will be happening in Q2 2008, including the first preview of the revived RadRotator control. Among the things coming to the RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX in Q2 are:

• New, built from scratch, RadRotator- a new beginning for an old control
• New sorting, filtering, and client-side events in RadCombobox
• Huge improvements in RadGrid
• New client-side data binding
• Tons of new client-side objects, methods
• Many important bug fixes
  
• Important new features in RadScheduler
• Improved client-side loading time (claimed 30% faster)
• New Exchange data provider!
  
• Two-thumb sliders now supported in RadSlider
• New common skin for all controls: Gray
  
• Like new Telerik skin, just gray - see post pic for RadGrid example
  

You can see all of the new features running right now in the Futures live demos. The only new control in this release is the re-built RadRotator, and in the Futures build it is still an acknowledged weak control. There is a huge focus on that control in the run-up to the official Q2 release and you can expect it to be much improved by the end of July (and even more so in SP1).

Other gotchas in this release:

• There are some breaking changes in RadUpload. The changed features are minor and relate only to localization, but if you use RadUpload localization you'll want to take note.
• Two embedded skins are being retired in Q2: Default2006 and Mac. The Telerik skin has also be updated, so be prepared to check for design consistency if you use those skins. The old skins will remain available as extra downloads for use as external skins if you need them.

Hopefully you enjoy the features in this release. Q2 has been a very short dev cycle for Telerik as we continue to transition to our tri-annual (3 releases per year) release calendar, but I think we've managed to do a lot. Enjoy the "beta" bits and watch for the final release in a couple weeks.

RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX Futures released

The first big release of 2008 (not counting Sitefinity, of course) is just around the corner, and marking its impending arrival is today's RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX (formerly "Prometheus") Futures release. The Futures release can be thought of as the beta version of the controls that will ship for ASP.NET AJAX in Q1. We use the term "Futures" to differentiate from the "beta" tag that has been on the Prometheus suite for the last year. In either case, the Futures release that dropped today is your first chance to start playing with the bits that will officially drop in mid-April. Included in today's build are:

• New ASP.NET AJAX versions of RadTabstrip, RadToolbar, and RadPanelbar
• New RadFormDecorator control (based on Skinnable Forms CTP)
• RadGrid with tons of new features (many which I've already talked about)
• RadEditor with some cool new features (I'll cover these later)
• RadChart with new Ajax features (covered here)
• RadScheduler with new grouping features

For a complete list of the new controls and features in the Futures build, check out the official announcement on the Telerik forums. Needless to say, there is a lot of new stuff going on in this build for you to check out. And since this is a "beta," we want your feedback! Check out the new controls and the new features and tell us what we should fix for the final release in a few weeks.

On a cautionary note, you will need to watch out for a few API changes in the new Prometheus controls that will break with your older implementations. For starters, I believe the new RadToolbar and RadPanelbar have new APIs that are not compatible with the old ASP.NET versions of the controls. The changes have been introduced to ensure the best possible development experience and product performance in the future. Also, a little more serious, the RadSplitter "Prometheus" API will introduce some back-compat breaking changes in Q1. The RadSplitter has been totally refactored to improve performance, and that required a few breaking changes.

We know breaking changes are painful and that every developer hates them. I hate them, too. We try to avoid them at all costs and only introduce them when the long term performance/productivity gains can be achieved no other way. Start playing with the Futures release today, though, and see for yourself how our next generation suite for ASP.NET is once again raising the bar for ASP.NET UI components!

"Prometheus" Futures updated, available now

Today I am excited to bring to you, hot off the build servers, the latest RadControls "Prometheus" Futures release. The Futures release, as you may remember, is designed to preview some of the work being done in the "Prometheus" suite in-between official releases. The releases are similar to betas, but since the "Prometheus" suite itself is in a long beta period, the "Futures" process helps avoid naming confusion.

I must admit that I am very excited about this release. In it are previews of "Prometheus-ized" RadGrid, RadComboBox, RadMenu, RadUpload, and improved versions of RadEditor, RadWindow, and RadChart. The Prometheus suite is really starting to feel complete with this release, but more exciting than the new controls are the new features and major performance improvements being delivered in the controls.

For example, the versions RadMenu and RadCombobox in Futures have added the ability to bind directly to web services and completely control item collections on the client (with changes persisted to the server). RadGrid has an all new- completely rewritten- data binding core that is delivering incredible performance boosts (I'll provide some solid numbers soon). And by Q3 RadGrid will also have a brand new ExportToExcel engine that will give you unprecedented control over your data exports.

So while we're not going to see any "new" new controls in Q3, we are receiving some great improvements in existing controls. I like to think of Q3 this year as a release that will make the core tools we use everyday better than ever- faster, more flexible, and with additional features. As we move in to 2008 with a revamped set of "base" controls, we can then move on to bringing new innovative controls to the web.

Want to get your hands on today's Futures release? Head over to the Telerik website and download your free copy or take the online demos for a spin. The demos do not yet feature the improvements in the Prometheus Futures controls, but everything will be updated for Q3. Enjoy the new release and don't go far- Q3 will be here in about two weeks.

Prometheus Futures delayed, available today (update)

When you're trying to release beta components there is fine line between releasing unfinished code to meet an announced deadline and delaying a release to finish a few more beta features. In the case of the second "Prometheus" Futures release, we have obviously opted for the later path so that we can deliver the highest quality beta code. At this point, you already know what's coming in today's release, but for those that missed it, the major update will be RadEditor Prometheus.

And while we're waiting on the release, let me mention a few of the new things you'll find in this totally re-built WYSIWYG online editor:

• CSS sprites used for toolbar buttons- that means fewer images to download from the server, which means better page load times.
• Background script loading- instead of loading all of the client-script for all of the Editor features on the initial page load, RadEditor "Prometheus" will load the client-side scripts for specific features asynchronously. That means less code to download on initial page load and faster page load times.
• Single file deployment- while all other RadControls have moved to embedded web resources in previous releases, RadEditor remains the one control that still requires the RadControls folder. That changes in RadEditor "Prometheus", which now supports the easy single file deployment.

Obviously, RadEditor "Prometheus" is a major step forward for the award winning component, so we're eager to get your feedback on the changes. Watch for the "Prometheus" Futures release today and check back here for an update with a direct link to the download.

UPDATE: The "Prometheus" Futures update is now available! Grab the download from your Client.net account and check out the new online demos.

Prometheus Futures update due next week

Have you been wondering what happened to the Futures updates we promised a "few" weeks ago? Well stop wondering and take off your thought reading helmets, the time has finally come to update the Prometheus Futures. Next Tuesday, August 28th, we will release a major update to the Prometheus Futures build, and hopefully the scale of this update will make the wait worth it.

In the next Futures release you'll find stable betas of RadWindow, RadInput, and the totally new RadEditor. Of these newly "prometheus'd" controls, RadEditor is clearly the most significant. RadEditor has been completely re-built for Prometheus and its performance has been radically improved. If you're a fan of RadEditor, you'll definitely want to start playing with this beta next week.

The controls that have already been introduced in the Futures build will see some updates next week, too. RadScheduler and RadChart have a number of new features to show-off as all of the controls get ready for the big Q2 release in September. So stay tuned and watch for the release announcement next week!