coapp-developers team mailing list archive

[Garrett Serack <garretts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Posted at http://coapp.org/posts/2011/09/22/Whats-New/ feel free to comment there!)
As we approach getting to Beta 2 for CoApp (and hear that expected date whizz past!), it's probably a good idea that I drop a quick update as to where we are.
Our CoApp-as-a-Win32-Service work is pretty much complete (although I'd like to do a full security review before 1.0). We have the full functionality of the engine provided over a named-pipes connection, and it's working pretty darn well. The engine actually performs significantly better that when it was in-process with the client, and really, supports a few more features that before as well--support for fine-granularity group-policy-controlled permissions for CoApp functionality, multiple concurrent clients, faster installation, better feed management, package blocking, trim support, zero-reboot support for environment variables and more.
We're also addressing the UI perspective as well--the CoApp bootstrapper (the embedded bit that is stuck inside every single package) sports a clean and clear UI:
[Description: Bootstrapping CoApp on XP]
Even when the bootstrapper fails, it's not too complicated :
[Description: What happens when things don't go right...]
(Ok, I borrowed from "Windows 8" on that one...)
As well, the default installer (what you see when you simply double-click on a CoApp MSI) is nearly done:
Of course, it wouldn't be software development if there wasn't a couple of bumps in the road.
Extensive debugging of the bootstrap process and a few other bits has taken a bit longer than I was hoping, but we're coming down to the last couple of weeks of effort, and we should have a pretty stable and usable Beta 2 build, which will certainly allow us to start packaging up some software.
I'm sure that the bugs will start rolling in like crazy after that!



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Garrett Serack | Microsoft Open Source Software Developer | Microsoft Corporation
Office:(425)706-7939                                       email/messenger: garretts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:garretts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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I don't make the software you use; I make the software you use better on Windows.