 | | | Microsoft Sparkle | Microsoft Sparkle 2003-11-19 - By Johan Verhoeven
Back
yeah, I heard about it, but I'm pretty sceptical about it.. I wonder if
MS is capable of making something that suits designers, rather then
programmers.. time will tell...
J.
--it's all about entertainment.
-- --Oorspronkelijk bericht-- --
Van: dirgames-l-bounces@(protected)
[mailto:dirgames-l-bounces@(protected)]Namens Rasmus Keldorff
Verzonden: woensdag 19 november 2003 10:39
Aan: Director - Shockwave - and Flash Game Production
Onderwerp: [dirGames-L] Microsoft Sparkle
Hi all,
I haven't seen a discussion about Sparkle here yet, so I thought I'd
just
instigate one! :-P
According to rumorological data (!), Microsoft is working on a
'Flash-killer' technology named 'Sparkle', which will be part of the
Longhorn OS update due some time the year after next year after next
year
(or something like that).
As far as I can see, the details of Sparkle are still firmly under
wraps,
but already there are some vague details leaking. What seems to be clear
is
that Sparkle is part of the Avalon graphics engine (which fills roughly
the
same function as Mac OS X's Quartz Extreme tech), and that it is part of
a
renewed .NET push, ie. the various supported programming / scripting
languages supported by .NET will be supported by the Sparkle API. These
include C++, c#, COBOL (yeah), Delphi (Pascal), Visual Basic, and Java.
(There may be more; I am not aware). How is this possible? All these
code
dialects are translated to intermediate language -- or bytecode if you
like.
There may or may not also be a visual / timeline authoring tool; most
likely
a subindustry will spring up to fill this demand. My source is not clear
on
this.
<speculation+hearsay>
So why will Sparkle constitute a Flash killer? Well, for one it will
probably be instantly ubiquitous, at least at first on the Windows
platform.
(I hear rumblings of Mac portability, although I'm skeptical). Second,
it is
a native OS citizen; unlike Flash, which is relegated to a plugin in a
browser, Sparkle is potentially anywhere in any app. My money is on
Microsoft taking advantage of its unique position as OS maker + DirectX
controller, and leveraging DirectX to include vector drawing, gradients
etc.
-- the somewhat tired mainstays of Flash -- and all hardware
accelerated,
since M$ is able to greatly influence the graphics cards manufacturers.
So the first order of business for today is to get your heads wrapped
around
this: 'what would Flash feel like if it had the performance
characteristics
of accelerated vectors (ie. 3D games etc.)?'
This is the first holy grail, and one that MACR better be scrambling for
in
the labs at the moment, or else....
Next up: 3D and everything else. Once you have the image of super zippy
hardware-accelerated Flash graphics in your mind, start adding effects.
Like
pixel shaders.... lighting... shadows and more. But Sparkle would also,
by
its very nature, be natively 3D. So forget about the failed rocket
science
of '3D in Flash'. We may even have to start thinking about SW3D as old
hat... certainly it looks unlikely that Intel will toil to improve SW3D
to
the point where the full OpenGL/DirectX spec is supported ...the volume
simply isn't there. Imagine what a powerful platform Director would be
if
MACR controlled OpenGL or DirectX; if Flash and Director were one; and
you
could apply pretty much any programming language you want.
This is all pretty hyperbole and who knows if Redmond will even realize
all
this, let alone make it happen. But if I were MACR, I would just as soon
assume that M$ will succeed in this mission, and start building my
weapons
in advance. At the very least, MACR could edge out a nice niche by
*supporting* Sparkle in Director and Flash. If some of the rumour stuff
is
to be believed, M$ at one point had their eyes on MACR for this very
purpose.
</speculation+hearsay>
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3104381
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,0,1374455,00.asp?kc=MWRSS02129
TX1K
0000535
http://www.actionscript.com/archives/00000587.html
http://www.actionscript.com/archives/00000586.html
__ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
dirGames-L mailing list - dirGames-L@(protected)
http://nuttybar.drama.uga.edu/mailman/listinfo/dirgames-l
__ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
dirGames-L mailing list - dirGames-L@(protected)
http://nuttybar.drama.uga.edu/mailman/listinfo/dirgames-l
Earn $52 per hosting referral at Lunarpages.
|
|
|