MS EVO LAUNCH BRINGS NEW
DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES FOR ENSEMBLE

The idea behind Windows Vista is to enhance the end user experience, by making organising and finding files easier, with 3D navigation and amazing graphics. The visuals are stunning, with glassy-looking menus, beautiful photography and clever design. Vista clarifies the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them and find applications and files instantly.

	The Start menu features integrated desktop search through a new feature called Instant Search which can help you find and launch almost anything on your PC.
	Over the next twelve months, Paritor will be incorporating new Windows Vista technologies into EnsembleXP.Net. The most significant development tool to be launched with Windows Vista is a new platform called the Windows Presentation Foundation, which is part of the .Net 3 framework.
	At present, EnsembleXP.Net uses the .Net 1.1 framework, which is an extension to windows, providing developers with a wider range of functionality. The Windows Presentation Foundation will be fully in place behind EnsembleXP.Net by September 2007.

These new technologies do not represent huge changes to the software itself, although the user experience will be enhanced in line with Windows Vista’s flair for visual effects. The other big advantage offered by the new development platform is communication functionality. It will be much easier for us to add web integration, resulting in better communications features.

The .Net 1.1 framework has always been a prerequisite of EnsembleXP.Net (hence the .Net), and users will need to have the .Net 3 framework in place by September 2007. It will also be necessary for users to have access to the Paritor website, as EnsembleXP.Net will become a live, online system.
Both the .Net 3 framework and internet access will need to be arranged through users’ IT departments. We are aware that internet access is heavily restricted within some local authorities. It is important to remember that users will only need to access the Paritor website; full internet access will not be required.

There is plenty of time to arrange these things before they become a necessity. Any user without the .Net 3 framework and access to the Paritor website by September 2007 will not be able to upgrade to the new versions of Ensemble.

These upgrades are necessary, to keep inline with the latest technologies. The biggest, and of course the most noticeable changes coming with EVO are the ‘look and feel’ related ones, which are impossible to miss.

The traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced by the Ribbon—a new device that presents commands organized into a set of tabs. For example, Office Word 2007 has tabs for writing, inserting, page layout, working with references, doing mailings, and reviewing documents.

Windows Vista is the first Windows operating system that has a user experience that can gracefully scale to the hardware capabilities of the computer it is installed on. Vista will run on a PC if it has an 800MHz (or higher) processor, 512MB of system memory, and a graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable. These are the minimum requirements; most modern computers will have no problems running Windows Vista.