The New Road

After doing a couple of small projects with XAML I have a few impressions to pass along.

• This is very similar to development with Flash. It's slow and painstaking.
• This is definitely not HTML on steroids. Traditional HTML developers will likely not make the jump to this.
• C# for scripting the interface is pretty hardcore.
• Developing XAML disconnected is impossible. You have to have access to the MSDN.
• Many articles and books reference older versions of the toolkit and the XAML syntax. So you end up developing a nose for what looks like old XAML and what looks like new XAML.
• The compiler is very, very finicky about the XML and the construction of the XAML. Which is probably a good thing.
• The style syntax is good, but not a friendly as CSS. Which is both a good and bad thing.
• The tools are far better than with Flash.
• The underlying framework is very good.
• Sometimes finding the right documentation is tough because of the blend of Windows Forms, XAML and Windows Mobile documentation. For example, try finding the information on Button. It will come up with all three and it's often tough to discern which is which.
  
• The lack of code for really serious examples, like the North Face kiosk code, is a problem. There is too much hidden in the sauce here, and that will turn people off. The fact of the matter is to put up a 3D spinning interface is a crap load of work that you will only do in your 10th project. And the hype coming from MS is that it's easy.
• It's definitely 'salt water fish tank construction' style development. The results are pretty. But to do it yourself takes at least ten times to get right. So keep it simple and small and do it a lot and you will come out ok.
  

Overall I would say my impression is positive. And it would have been a lot better were it not for the "HTML on steroids" line I heard at MIX06. It's definitely not "HTML on steroids" and never will be. But it's a damn good framework for putting together smoking hot 2D and 3D interactive interfaces. Which is good in it's own right.