Microsoft rips up the script

I don't blog too much about my job, but friends know that I manage a team of programmers, and we mostly operate in the Microsoft technical space. A couple of weeks ago Microsoft held their "Build" conference, which discusses the future of development tools, and they took the chance to unveil their Windows 8 preview. It is a bold and radical new vision for desktop computing, and a major change for Microsoft developers. Windows 8 uses the new "Metro" style for the desktop. Metro originally came out of their "Windows Phone" technology, and it effectively looks like big chunky icons which scroll in the way that the iPhone has made famous. Metro will effectively mean a single interface style across desktops, tablets and phones, which is a pretty radical departure from what we have now.

 

Under the covers, it all means big changes for programmers. For the last 15 years MS development has been ground in what is known as the Win32 API, and for the last 10 years the focus has been on the .NET API which runs on top of that. MS are killing off Win32 and introducing WinRT, a slicker and more powerful API which takes advantage of things like hardware acceleration. .NET will still be there for C# and VB programmers, but it will be trimmed down and (from what I can see) the WinRT API will be accessed transparently via it's own namespace, rather than all the P/Invoke stuff that we had to do before. Interfaces will still be developed in XAML (so all those anxious Silverlight developers can chillax, because their skills are still completely relevant).

 

The interesting thing is that MS are now supporting native development in HTML5 and Javascript. As far as I can see, Javascript doesn't run in the .NET CLR, it just access the WinRT stuff directly (I guess the javascript interpreter is effectively the virtual machine). The HTML5 stuff is supposed to be super-optimised, and running as close to the metal as possible. They showed more than a few of these Javascript/HTML5 metro apps at Build, and they looked good.

 

Some .NET developers are wondering though - are the Windows team secretly hoping to eventually push *everyone* toward HTML5/Javascript for Windows development? For myself, I can't see it. XAML is still a much nicer interface language than HTML5, and C# is a much better language than Javascript, and the .NET Framework Class Libraries give you all sorts of goodies. I think the more serious applications will continue to be written using these tools. The big test, of course, will be future versions of Microsoft Office. If Office 2013 is written in HTML5 and Javavscript (!!!!), then I'd say .NET/XAML are on their way out. But personally, I can't see it.

Stack Exchange - Christianity

The Stack Exchange format has had a huge impact on the world of IT - every programmer I know uses it now. For those who don't know, Stack Exchange allows you to post questions and answers to those questions, and vote the questions and answers up or down. Pretty simple - but done so beautifully and well that it has become a huge phenomenon. There is now a "Christianity" Stack Exchange site. If it takes off, it could be huge - http://christianity.stackexchange.com/.

Tough times ahead for parish finances

I think we are in for some pretty tough times with regards to parish finances in our diocese, in both the short and long term.

In the short term, I think most sectors of our domestic economy are weaker than thought, and unemployment might rise a bit more. Coupled with this, parishioners are facing record high costs for rent, mortgages, power, groceries and fuel. So I suspect the plate will be squeezed a bit from all this. At the same time, it seems likely that parishes will need to make a greater contribution to the costs of the episcopate - if it is to continue in it's existing form, that is. I suspect there will be some anger about this, by the way.

Long term, demographic shifts mean that a large portion of generous supporters are about to retire, and the generation following is a bit anemic in terms of numbers, which will futher hit finances.No easy answers there. Some parishes will adapt to changing circumstances, and even thrive. Others will survive, but struggle to come to grips with the changed reality, always hoping for a return to the prosperous noughties and nineties. And other parishes will fold, hit by the dual whammy of declining finance and an aging membership.

One thing that will happen, I think, is that diocesan spending will be scrutinised over the coming years in a way that it hasn't before. I suspect the investment review that has just completed will be a pattern for similar and broader reviews in the years ahead.

The Eclectic Society

"Our new institution at the Castle and Falcon promises well. We are now six members and voted in a seventh last night. We begin with tea, then a short prayer introduces a conversation for about three hours upon a proposed subject and we seldom flag... I think they are the most interesting and instructive conversations I have ever had a share in." John Newton, 1783, after the second meeting of the Eclectic Society

Why aren't we growing?

Excellent analysis of the challenges facing the diocese of Sydney