Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Open-Sources Windows Calculator (betanews.com)
Microsoft said today it has made the source code for its Windows calculator available on GitHub. The company said it hopes to work with contributors to improve the user experience of Windows calculator. In a statement, Dave Grochocki and Howard Wolosky of Microsoft said: Today, we're excited to announce that we are open sourcing Windows Calculator on GitHub under the MIT License. This includes the source code, build system, unit tests, and product roadmap. Our goal is to build an even better user experience in partnership with the community. We are encouraging your fresh perspectives and increased participation to help define the future of Calculator. As developers, if you would like to know how different parts of the Calculator app work, easily integrate Calculator logic or UI into your own applications, or contribute directly to something that ships in Windows, now you can. Calculator will continue to go through all usual testing, compliance, security, quality processes, and Insider flighting, just as we do for our other applications.
I hope this program gets ported to Linux now that it's open source.
Sure. This isn't 100% PR.
If there was ever any piece of software that is done and needs no more work, it was this one.
We've been waiting years for this!
There are plenty of open-source calculators from HP-11C style RPN
apps for Android and IOS, to a variety of callable interface ones on
Linux, MacOS, and whatever.
Microsoft's 24 year old calculator isn't worth the code it was stolen on.
E
What's next, Minesweeper?
Time to work on the pi = 3 Alabama addition. I wonder if there is a localization api?
Can someone now put the 1/x button back where it is easily accessible and make the programmer version allow floating point numbers? I get really annoyed when I'm dealing with hex values that are whole numbers, where 1 represents 2^(-8), and I can get the integer value from the hex, but then have to copy the value to the scientific calculator to convert to the floating point value...
" to improve the user experience of Windows calculator"
I don't have a user experience.....I have a calculator
It seems they need help to screw up their calculator........
https://github.com/Microsoft/c...
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
Great - so now people are going to make 0-day exploits by finding Calculator code faults, because it's installed on millions of computers which have now become ripe targets.
Thanks, Microsoft!
I came here looking for this, not spam
I will forever remember where I was and what I was doing when I learned about such momentous, earth-shattering news.
microsoft: we are committed to open source, here is some software we released as "opened source"
internet: yeah this license isnt really open source
microsoft: We have heard the feedback and are continuing our awesome open source initiative.
internet: its cool. since you spent 40 years trying to force people to use your crappy software, we came up with other open source tools that all either do the same thing, or do it much better than yours.
microsoft: Here is calculator. It is a small but advanced tool you can use
internet: Linux has about 34 different calculators already. and they run in windows too.
microsoft: Yes yes, you are welcome. finally, A calculator that is open source. now if youll excuse me, ive only got 2 plays left on my zune copy of mmm-bop and id like to enjoy them.
Good people go to bed earlier.
We had the old file manager, early DOS versions and now the calculator. Eventually Microsoft will probably go the Red Hat route and Make the full switch to open source. They already kind of are with Edge soon being based on Chromium.
The old blue-ish type could use decimals and switch to hex in a single interface, without losing the numbers. I don't understand why they had to separate it into multiple modes. Very annoying.
While I agree with the general consensus that releasing the source to calculator is underwhelming, I'm wondering if there is more to the plan here.
Maybe Microsoft has a long term goal of making more apps open-source, to help with the support workload or to develop more Microsoft developers and maybe find some UI designers with fresh approaches.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
It's the BS "app" calculator, with all of it's fancy features like sign-in required, phone home telemetry, and etc. How blessed we are!
What's your nefarious plan, Micro$oft? Surely you know the true value of Micro$oft Calculator.
Telemetry is disabled in development builds by default, and can be enabled with the SEND_TELEMETRY build flag.
that's great, I sure didn't want to miss out on sending some telemetry
Microsoft is dead.
I won't get excited until Windows 10 is open-sourced so I can remove all the telemetry bullshit.
From now on I'll be programming and open-sourcing at least one calculator a day, maybe two on sundays. Looking forward to all the /. articles on my calculators. Yay!!!
Li-ii-nks!
Li-ii-nks!
Li-ii-nks!
Li-ii-nks!
Li-ii-nks!
Which none are found in TFA.
Say what you want, but the Windows calculator is the best of its class. No lin-sux or OSuX calculator compares. This is a huge win for the open source community, and it is sad to see so much negativity just because it is microsoft.
Next, they are going to opensource notepad. Shit nobody uses. Microsoft fake attempt at opensource..
This means I'll be able to get a version that doesn't beg me to rate it on the windows store
Our goal is to build an even better user experience in partnership...
... somebody just shoot me. To have a job where you had to talk like that it would be horrible.
I prefer being a human being, and even talking like one on occasion.
Really? An app that an 8 year old with a "programming Windows apps for dummies" style book could author in a weekend. How many project managers and H1B's worked on Microsoft's version that they think this is worth open sourcing?
Solitaire was probably the most use bundled application of Windows until they ladened it with microtractions.
For a moment there we almost had a revelation on what really goes on in Redmond
What makes it so slow?
How much was the developer paid and how long did it take him?
The same plan as when their game division say "they will start again supporting pc gaming". Lip service, but in reality do nothing of worth. With the calculator it is so comical as to give me tears of laugh. There are so many OS project which do better with more functionality, and heck there isn't anything in windows calculator a 1st year student could not slap in a week in java.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Please add this newly available code to Ubuntu
The Ubuntu calculator stinks -- no sign-change button and the Ubuntu calculator runs as a singleton (why??) -- sometimes I want a second or third on-screen calculator
While I'm here, the Ubuntu calendar program stinks too and needs replacing -- try this: run the calendar program and leave it run for a couple or three days; next, click on the [go to today] button and see what happens [answer=nothing, it stinks]
They are atleast reducing the bugs in the default Ubuntu filemanager, although it is simply by reducing features (no more right-click, create-file??) -- doesn't smell good either
Headline should read: "Microsoft, tired of supporting C++ / XAML applications, open sources Calculator with a MIT license on GitHub."
I don't blame them, it's a utility program and likely no one wants to be responsible for maintaining it.
We rewrote or decommissioned dozens of old c/c++ applications in my large company in the last few years. We couldn't find decent developers at our pay rates to work on C++. We even had a hard time finding consulting companies willing to staff augment our team.
I'm hoping it will soon get an RPN mode.
I can't wait so they can teach us Mickey$oft math!
;^)
Linux kcalc app:
3 + 3 * 3 == 12
Linux command line app bc:
3 + 3 * 3 == 12
Linux C Program using C Standard operator precedence:
int main(void)
{
printf("3 + 3 * 3 == %d\n", 3 + 3 * 3);
return 0;
}
Output:
3 + 3 * 3 == 12
Windows 10 Calculator:
3 + 3 * 3 == 18!
Priceless!!!
Dear Microsoft,
good thing you did not wait 26 more days to make this announcement.
#DeleteFacebook
Can't wait for a snazzy new calculator to come out... ! Come on MS, pretty much every programming course teaches you to make a calculator within the first few weeks!
If they are serious about building out its functionality, it would be nice if it had added graphing and calculus features added to it to mimic a TI-83 or TI-89. This could be a benefit to students who have to share calculators in school and can't afford one for home use (or those times you just don't have one on you). Having it shipped and supported right inside Windows would be a great benefit for students.
Hopefully now Lubuntu can fix their % calculation in their own calc app!
no comments? not a single one?
Ah, right. Nobody cares.
I learned how to program by studying the source code for the original calculator back in the early days of Windows. Lots of fun.
Thanks for all the fish, Kraig.
http://thomasokken.com/free42/
I change the Skin to "realistic" as that looks a lot better. More skin fun: http://thomasokken.com/free42/skins/
Or just use dc from your command line prompt. Be sure to install bc to get dc.
"contribute directly to something that ships in Windows, now you can"
So now all hackers & malware writers can insert their own hidden backdoors (extremely hard to detect & intentionally created bugs) directly to Windows source code???
"Calculator will continue to go through all usual testing, compliance, security, quality processes, and Insider flighting, just as we do for our other applications."
So MS people think, they can always catch any backdoors created by most expert hackers & malware writers in the world???
It's a little less work for the folks at ReactOS.
Irrelevant, period!
In Windows 7, Start > Run > Calc and calculator loads instantly and you can start using it. That's when the calculator appeared to be written using Windows Forms. When they switched to Modern UI or WPF in Windows 10, when you open it, Start > Run > Calc. wait...wait...wait... and then it's open. Nearly every application that they switched from 7 to 10 in this way has a loading lag that wasn't there before.
Jesus fucking Christ! Why the hell does one need to have an "improved" experience when using a calculator? It is just about the simplest piece of software one uses. The only thing it needs to do is perform mathematical calculations.
Does everything need to be an "experience"? How about just working?
Quick, let's link in the GNU Multi-Precision library (libgmp) to extend the calculator with support for massive numbers. Thanks to GNU LGPL v3 and GNU GPL v2, it will infect this MIT licensed source and bind it to the terms of GPL.
Most of Bill Gates wealth is built on luck timing and greed. The EU should have forced MS to fully document their file format.
46137
I'm so excited about this! Microsoft Windows Calculator is hands down one of the most important applications I use on a daily basis. This is vitally important to me! --said no one ever. WTF?
The Microsoft calculator drops 5+% of button-presses when one presses the mouse button while moving (but entirely within a graphical button).
After 20 years of constant cursing...
Do you think some NON-MICROSOFT person might finally fix the calculator?
Next April Fools' headline:
Notepad and Wordpad to interoperate with Linux text files.
I wouldn't be surprised if the lost mouse clicks reflect an architectural flaw in the Windows window system.
There is no excuse for the CR-LF vs LF design limitation.
My opinion is that the problems are deeper than just programming.
There is institutional stupidity, and institutional refusal to improve.
Wonder how many are cheering that we finally have Microsoft's calculator in open source??
...contributors to improve the user experience of Windows calculator."
Here's my contribution: SpeedCrunch.
Glad I could contribute. The only thing missing from SpeedCrunch is hex to decimal and decimal to hex conversions. SpeedCrunch is better in every way for one-off number calculations and Excel and Google Sheets are better at handling quick-n-dirty analytics (SUM(), AVG(), etc).
Next up: Microsoft will open source Notepad or MS Paint and we'll have another good chortle.
Even calculator is spying.
That is like Apple announcing they will include a small cardboard box for FREE with every new iPhone. Why not open-source Windows 7?
Because they are MICROSOFT and will not open-source anything of any value whatsoever.
Microsoft actually wasting time on a product roadmap for Windows calculator is pretty funny. I wonder who the lucky product manager was who got that gig.
A student will still need to buy an authentic TI-83/84 or TI-89 calculator for standardized testing because the College Board's SAT rules ban QWERTY keyboards and touch screens.
Terry Gilliam did some insider flighing in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)—mainly Robin Williams's head flying around on a Roman dinner plate (about as useful as the source code to Windows calculator).
Robin's expression is slightly on the mirthful side in this one, even by his own standards. Anything to do with Uma Thurman's brief nude scene, in her filmic debut?
Google's calculator, with it's magic unit conversions, is a different beast, whose source code would have some actual value.
#! python3
from __future__ import print_function, division
from sys import argv, version
from math import *
S = ' '.join(argv[1:])
if S:
R = eval(S)
print(S, '=', R)
else:
print(version)
I'm curious whether any improvements made to the open source code would be back-ported into Windows?
I often use the date calculation feature in calc.exe. Sometimes I inadvertently click on the "Calculate" button instead of "=" when doing an arithmetic calculation, however, and once clicked, I can't go back to using the numeric functions without closing and reopening the program.
Didn't read the code, but maybe it reveals enough to flood the telemetry servers with garbage data!
Thats a way to show them you support OSS.. *eyeroll*
now maybe they'll quit fucking with win7s calculator during major updates when it's plugged-into win10. the 'app' version sucks donkey dick.
I'd love it if Microsoft Open Source Caligari TrueSpace. It's about the only product they own I want. Hasn't been supported since 2008, would be lovely to have the code.
Like most apps on Linux for the user side compared to closed source apps, all the "calculators" being claimed here are bound to be a mismatch of probably OK code and dev laziness/chaos in user interfaces. I've been at this game for over twenty years now. I've spent years working on Linux and Windows. Long enough to see open source promises by the "crowd" come an go. It appears this crowd can only see this as some kind of joke. It's not a joke. MS is making Windows and the WLS file compatible with the next update. They're doing things. What are you all doing? Looks like you are sitting around with your 2% user market share - that never changes, and complaining. Sure, open source has a lot more calculators, and - almost no one cares.
I hope we get the Win16 program manager as open source soon.
I'm sure GP's Facebook shadow profile counts him as a visionary. Not everything needs a Rube Goldberg machine to work. Its just dad it takes a visionary to call a simple calculator done.
Its like refining a fork. Sure there is plastic, sure there is the spork, but a fork is a fork. The spork didn't replace it, its basic design is done. Its going to get ported to Linux for the lulz, and there will likey be troll code submissions. I'd be surprised if somebody didn't turn it into Amarok or WinAMP or include emacs. But basically the Windows Calculator has to do three things well:
1. Be recognizable in its function, basic multiplication or repeat addition.
2. Load instantly.
3. Work with the number pad on a QWERTY keyboard.
Related info here...
The Win10 calculator has an awful UI. It's huge -- much bigger than it needs to be. As others here have noted, it also starts slowly, since it's a Windows Store app and not a normal Win32 program. As others here have also noted, it may not work at all if your network's firewall blocks Windows Store access. (Or you remove the Windows Store from Windows.)
So, replace the darn thing. There are lots of other Windows calculator programs out there. (My favorite is Moffset FreeCalc: http://www.moffsoft.com/freeca.... It may not be visually the most beautiful either, but it doesn't take up tons of screen real estate, it's fast, and it does everything I need. And it's free.)
And if you want, you can do some registry hacks so any attempts to run calc.exe instead run Moffset FreeCalc, or whatever is your calculator of choice.
My batch here is also easily adjustable to open a different calculator (e.g. Calculator Plus, or whatever), just change the folder\file referenced.
(You could also use this same technique to replace notepad.exe with Notepad++ or whatever other various replacements from stock Windows apps that you might want. Note, however, that Windows may likely reset your settings anytime there's a major build update, e.g., one of Microsoft's big every-six-months build updates.)
Batch file posted here in Pastebin:
https://pastebin.com/a8na7k4d
They would be releasing win?.x and win9x/me as open source, with all ijntellectually encumbered parts removed, and a regression test suite for expected API/ABI behavior given the original code.
If they did this, then every legacy system left could be updated and secured, a whole generation could learn what the transition period from 16 bit dos to 32 bit Wintel was like, and people could be reminded how you were one able to swap a Windows hard disk between computers and all that would happen is your System->Devices->Device Tree would be spammed with multiple system's worth of drivers and pci ids :)
Personally Win9x and DirectX =8.1 are what I'm interested in. Microsoft broke support for it with the DirectX 9.0b or c pack for Windows 2000/XP and it's never been fixed since. Since those packs were required to run on later service packs of windows, you couldn't play a whole swath of legacy games on windows anymore, unless you happened to have an OS with compatibility support that actually worked, which was rare for the home user.
rm - rf
I don't.
- Google has a strong inescapable grip on Chromium anyway?
- This is to save money and fire the Edge team / move it to other purposes
- They EOL Internet Explorer and can ask Windows 8.1 users to move to Edge Chromium
- Microsoft already has goddamn Electron applications so they're using Chromium already. So, they're tying themselves to Electron and Chromium
- Web apps on Android phones may run on Chrome and Edge Chromium. Other savings there. They can try pushing Edge Chromium on Android a bit. Same thing here the value is that it's the same thing so it won't bitch on Google web crap or on everything else that is dev'ed for the phone duopoly.
As I read the statement, I literally saw a scene in my mind of an empty space with tumbleweed blowing by.
I'm even serious.
Myself, I migrated to linux years and years and years back.
My parents were a bit more recalcitrant.
During a time of crisis though - ie. their hardware getting older and no longer able to keep up with the accumulated bloat - a lightened-up version of Linux Mint has drawn zero complaints.
What was the one thing that I had a hard time finding a replacement for?
The Solitaire game.
(I did manage to find an open source card game package, and it included a version of Solitaire that *mostly* passed muster though, you know, some of the background designs and card graphics weren't quite.. The Same :)=
Making in skinnable would be a nice touch
The Windows calculator is only an algebraic one. It does not handle RPN notation, In my younger days, I wrote a program in 8bit rombasic that emulated something like a HP15, but you could set the operation in 'base by', eg "base 73 by 10's". You could set your own degrees and logs as well, independently of the base (eg 28 sto T would set the circle to 28 degrees.)
The calculator on the desktop is not really all that useful, unless you can edit the calculation history. For plain dos and Windows, i used to use a thing called 'acalc' from PC-DOS 7, but i wrote a rather cute calculator in REXX, which does much of the same thing. (It supports trig functions in circles too).
Of course, we see reactos has a nice calculator that looks pretty much like the windows one. They had the thing set up so you could run the winxp type version under w2000. Microsoft forced you through a large DLL for this activity. Nothing like what you need to run the norton desktop for windows one though. It uses quite a large slab of the application.
OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
Which one is it? The old calc.exe, or the new fucking useless piece of shit that comes with Windows 10 and server and CANNOT BE RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR!!
I mean, it is a piece of shit no matter what. But, an administrator can't run a fucking calculator? WHAT THE FUCK!
Want a great calculator? Try KCalc the KDE calculator on Linux. The only thing I wish it had was a "paper tape" feature.
Why is this even on slashdot? Its a pathetic News if not News at all. I just released a more interesting repo with an empty README under GPL.
No, not clippy. Minesweeper, definitely! When do I get to see the code for that!?
Something completely new in the open source software scenario!
Thank you Microsoft!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
This is the greatest thing ever happened in software!
function multiply(a,b){
for (i=0; i b; i++) {
a += a;
}
return a;
}
Gonna make a pull request for my BLAS and LAPACK integration. Working on a symbolic toolbox as well.