A number of existing APIs are deprecated in .NET Framework 4.0. A complete listing of deprecated APIs in .NET Framework 4.0 can be found here at MSDN:

• Obsolete Types in the .NET Framework 4
• Obsolete Members in the .NET Framework 4

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Since I have started using BlogEngine.NET I never thought of using any other open source blog engine. To me BlogEngine is the most extensible blogging platform availableat present. As a popular blogging, engine blog engine users faces a lot of spam comments. I was so totally annoyed and even after moderating comments I have to manually go and delete the comments. After some search I found an extesion from  Joel Thoms (http://joel.net). Simple and easy to use, dont even require moderation.This extension passes the commnets to Akismet spam database which then checks approves or disapprove commnets.

To get it working you need an API Key which you can get for free at http://akismet.com. Once you get an API key extract the files in App_Code/Extensions folder and jump to your Extension section under Settings.

Once you save your settings you are done. NO MORE SPAM.

Download: AkismetExtension.zip (3.55 kb)

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I am quite fascinated with Windows 7 before even I get it started using it. Actually I have just started on a fun project for my personal use which includes jump list. Why I am doing this? To navigate and get access to the application and internet addresses I need anytime. I am tired of typing addresses and navigating to the programs I frequently use. I have just started so I thought I must blog about my jump list experience with you all. You won't believe but I am still using Visual Studio 2008 with .NETFX 3.5. Ok, Let's talk about some Windows development. In my last post on Windows 7 development I explain how can you have Aero effects for your Windows applications. If you haven't read my post on Aero effects in Windows Application then you should have a look at this.

Windows 7 API Code Pack comes packed up with some serious development stuff for Windows 7. If you don't have it yet then check my post for Windows 7 Development resources.

We all know and view the new taskbar in Windows 7 and when your program got pinned in the taskbar you can simply left click to run your program or right-click to view more options associated with your program. To make it more clear I give you an example. I use Winsnap (a tool to take screenshots with dropshadows) to take screenshots and yes I use it quite frequently, so I pinned it to my taskbar.

That's the third icon from the Windows start button. When I click it normally it opens up the Winsnap application and show me the panel from where I can take and make settings for my next screenshot. but when I right-click the pinned Winsnap icon on my taskbar it show me the same basic settings which I will be using if I would have launched the application.

Now when I have to take screenshots with my utility I just right-click Winsnap icon pinned to my taskbar and I am done. The items that you see under the heading Tasks is having all your jump list items. It is indeed possible to have some common functions from your application to be included in the jump list or can have some external links for applications like calculator, notepad, paint etc. If you don't know (just in case) if you can pin something on the taskbar then you can also unpin it.

I hope now I am quite clear with jump list in Windows 7. So lets gets our hands on developing an application with jump list.

Getting Started

Start it up creating a simple windows forms application with a name of your choice. As we are delaing with Windows 7 API we need to have it added in our project references. Files you need to add to references are:

• Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.DLL
• Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell.DLL

You can have these API libraries once you donwlod the API code pack. After you are done adding the required references, you can switch to the code window and do the rest of the work.

Creating Jump List

Start up with adding the namespace:

using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Taskbar;
using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell;

Create a jump list by calling CreateJumpList method, which is a part of Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Taskbar.JumpList namespace.

JumpList list = JumpList.CreateJumpList();

If you want to show the most recent files you have used, then you can do that by using this line of code:

list.KnownCategoryToDisplay = JumpListKnownCategoryType.Recent;

JumpListKnownCategoryType is an enumeration which will let you accomplish this. You can also have some other available options.

• Frequent: Display the frequent known category.
• Neither: Don't display either known category. You must have atleast one user task and or custom category link in order to not see the default 'Recent' known category.
• Recent: Display the recent known category.

To add some commonly used applications to the jump list then you can have it with in less than a jiffy. Create a JumpListLink class object and associate it with the JumpList class object. I use notepad a lot to note down my work, now I want to add to the jump list and I code it this way:

JumpList list = JumpList.CreateJumpList();
string SysPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System),
"notepad.exe");
JumpListLink JLink = new JumpListLink(SysPath,"Notepad.exe");
list.AddUserTasks(JLink);
list.Refresh();

One line of code can be used to include icon for your program. The IconReference property will let you add the icon the jump list item. Set the default value to '0', if you want to use the default icon for the application.

JumpList list = JumpList.CreateJumpList();
string SysPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System),
"notepad.exe");
JumpListLink JLink = new JumpListLink(SysPath,"Notepad.exe");
JLink.IconReference = new IconReference(SysPath, 0);
list.AddUserTasks(JLink);

You will now have a new jump list item. If you want to have your applications and links to be categorised in the jump list, then you can have custom jump list catgory and categorize your jump list items accordingly.

JumpList list = JumpList.CreateJumpList();
string SysPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath (Environment.SpecialFolder.System),"notepad.exe");
JumpListLink JLink = new JumpListLink(SysPath,"Notepad.exe");
list.AddUserTasks(JLink);
JumpListCustomCategory jcc = new JumpListCustomCategory("My Programs"); 
jcc.AddJumpListItems(new JumpListLink("http://www.microsoft.com", "Microsoft")); list.AddCustomCategories(jcc);
list.Refresh();

Categorizing programs is bit easy this way. I can categorize web URLs, my favourites programs and some other places/links on my computer. There is lot more you can do with Jump Lists. I hope the explaination above can let you create your own applications with jump lists.

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With the launch of Windows Vista, Microsoft introduces brand new UI, eye-catching aero effects (glass effects) for their new Operating System. I have seen a lot of programmers who are much concerned about the looks of their applications. So this time with the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft provides the Windows 7 API Code Pack. The Windows 7 API Code Pack not only just allows incorporating the aero glass effect, but many other features which will let you to work more conveniently with Windows 7. I will cover more of the features of Windows 7 API in my later posts. So, I am starting with a first tutorial on how to enable aero effects for the applications running on Windows 7. Create a new windows form application in Visual Studio. Design the form as normally you do as per your requirements. Now to give your form aero glass effect, we first need to add reference for the Windows API. Windows API provides a class called “GlassForm” which we are going to use in this example. When you add a new form to your project you see the following line in your code window:

public partial class AeroForm : Form

When you execute the code you will see a normal windows form which is obviously not we wanted. Here the “GlassForm” class comes into play. As we know we have all are forms are partial class, we have to inherit it with Form class which in turn completes our form. Now instead of using Form class use the “GlassForm” and you will see the Aero Glass Effects on your form.

public partial class AeroForm : GlassForm

This is how you normal Windows form looks like:

And your Aero form look like this:

Download: WindowsAero.zip (790.00 kb)

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I recently installed Windows 7® Ultimate on my machine and found it more soothing and reliable in terms of preformance than Windows Vista® Ultimate. As a tech enthusiast, I do some serach on the internet and found two links from Microsoft website that will allow developers to develop applications specifically for Windows 7. The Windows API code pack allows developers to develop those features which are not available with .NET Framework. So to get started visit:

1. Windows® Code Pack API for Windows 7 & Windows Vista


2. Windows Training Kit

The training kit includes the demos and presentations, hand-on labs for developers. I haven't yet started with Windows 7 development. But as soon as I get started I will blog some demo for Windows 7.

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