Disclaimer: I work for http://acquia.com/ , and we provide commercial support and network services for the open-source Drupal CMS.
Over several weeks, we worked with Microsoft to make sure Drupal would be well represented in the Windows Application Gallery to provide IIS users access to an easy to use Drupal installation. The result is here http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/AcquiaDrupal.aspx
We already provide Drupal Windows and Mac stack installers for Apache at http://acquia.com/downloads and so this was a natural extension of our mission to increase Drupal usage. Overall it was a positive experience and a way for us to ensure that the Drupal market continues to grow by supporting end-users who are committed to Microsoft's IIS and can't or prefer not use Apache. Microsoft of course also is motivated to ensure IIS is a great platform for any application, so we see this as a win-win.
If you'd like to learn more, our CTO Dries Buytaert wrote about it when the Windows Application Gallery launched at http://buytaert.net/microsoft-promoting-drupal
If you are new to Drupal, and want the fastest way to evaluate it, download and install Acquia Drupal in 5 min. Acquia Drupal is the same open source Drupal you can get on Drupal.org, but packaged with the most popular modules (so you don't have to figure out which of the 2000+ modules on drupal.org to start with), some network services including faceted search like you see on amazon, and a Mac or Windows stack installer for those who would prefer not to configure an xAMP stack for Drupal (or if you have a stack and there is a tarball too). Free download at http://acquia.com/downloads
Full disclosure, I work @ Acquia.
From my experience managing many multi-million line code projects for many years, its the tools (source control, bug system, langauges) and a standard documentation templates (market requirements doc, product requirements doc and detailed design document, unit test document) that are more important to standardize than coding guidlines. Sure everyone should follow a good variable naming convention (hungarian or equivalent) and heavily comment each function's purpose, but beyond that you can waste a lot of team time on arguing about idententation, and micro-commenting guidelines.
Also key is a standard process of developer peer reviews. All developers should have peers review specs. New or mediocre developers should have their code peer reviewed. Proven developers can be excused the code review but not the spec review.
Can any Slashdot PC Hardware engineers enlighten us to the sorry state of PC notebook design?
Why is this notebook 10lbs, and Apple can design one 3 lbs lighter? Why do PC Notebook components require 3 extra lbs!??
Also why can't PC laptop manufacturers start using DVD/CD Rom drives that do not have a disk tray (e.g. just insert the disk into a slot like the Apple Powerbook)
These are the real specs on it for anyone who cares to know the facts. It does have firewire (2 of them) and 802.11 and svideo out!?!! Sounds sweet to me.
Performance 2.0GHz Intel ® Mobile Pentium ® 4 Processor-M 15.2" widescreen LCD display 40GB hard drive capacity 512MB DDR memory DVD/CD-RW combo drive 32MB nVidia GeForce4 420 Go Graphics Weighs only 6.4 lbs. Connectivity Integrated 10/100 network capability Built-in 802.11b wireless networking* V.92 modem 2 IEEE 1394 (FireWire ® ) ports 2 USB 2.0 ports Music, movies & more Sonopür(TM) 24/192 digital audio system S-video/TV-out VGA external monitor connection Built-in stereo speakers Headphone/audio out jack with volume control located in front Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Microsoft Works® 6.0 CyberLink PowerDVD MPEG2 Product Details Model 110-200A5
Processor Processor 2.0GHz Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M Memory System Memory (RAM) 512MB DRAM (quantity 2x256MB DRAM) System Memory Expandable To (RAM) 1GB Type of Memory (RAM) 266MHz double data rate SDRAM Storage Hard Drive Type 4200 RPM Hard Drive Size 40GB DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive 8x8x24 CD & CD-RW, 8x DVD-ROM Graphics & Sound Display 15.2" Widescreen TFT LCD Resolution 1280 x 854 maximum Video Memory 32MB SDRAM Graphics nVidia GeForce4 420 Go Audio Sonopür(TM) 24/192 digital audio Speakers Stereo speakers Analog Audio out Headphone jack with volume control; use with headphones or Analog Interconnect Cable* Digital Audio out Through parallel port using available Digital Interconnect Cable* Video out S-video Communication & Connectivity Modem Integrated V.92 modem; data and fax support Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet Built-in wireless networking Yes; 802.11b wireless connectivity USB 2.0 Ports 2 IEEE 1394 (FireWire®) Ports 2 Parallel Ports 1 VGA Ports 1 SPDIF Ports 1 PC Card Slot 1 Input Devices Keyboard Description 82-key keyboard plus vpr Matrix button Trackpad Touch pad pointing device Audio Control 4 button and volume dial Battery Battery type Lithium ion (Li-Ion) Software Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Software Included Microsoft® Works® 6.0 and CyberLink PowerDVD MPEG2 software Vital Statistics Dimensions 13.9" W x 10" D x 1.21" H Product Weight 6.4 lbs. Warranty Term--Parts 1 year limited Warranty Term--Labor 1 year limited
Find a good model and see where your needs
diverge. When we started on a project like this, the UI was a mess until we based the initial design on an existing piece of software where the user interactions were similar in nature (e.g. office productivity app, multiple views of data = MS Outlook). So if your app has similarities to AutoCad, Photoshop, or any other commercially successful UI, use it as a starting reference model for your UI, and see where the needs of your users diverge from the UI model that app presents. To do this you need to generate typical usage cases, and rank them in terms of how often they will be performed, and make sure those operations are obvious and easy to perform. The other advantage to this approach is users will appreciate that it works just like "software app X" and won't need much additional training.
Slashdot Mirror
We have a huge need to hire a ton of Drupal folks w/LAMP experience. Apply online here http://www.acquia.com/careers
Disclaimer: I work for http://acquia.com/ , and we provide commercial support and network services for the open-source Drupal CMS. Over several weeks, we worked with Microsoft to make sure Drupal would be well represented in the Windows Application Gallery to provide IIS users access to an easy to use Drupal installation. The result is here http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/AcquiaDrupal.aspx We already provide Drupal Windows and Mac stack installers for Apache at http://acquia.com/downloads and so this was a natural extension of our mission to increase Drupal usage. Overall it was a positive experience and a way for us to ensure that the Drupal market continues to grow by supporting end-users who are committed to Microsoft's IIS and can't or prefer not use Apache. Microsoft of course also is motivated to ensure IIS is a great platform for any application, so we see this as a win-win. If you'd like to learn more, our CTO Dries Buytaert wrote about it when the Windows Application Gallery launched at http://buytaert.net/microsoft-promoting-drupal
If you are new to Drupal, and want the fastest way to evaluate it, download and install Acquia Drupal in 5 min. Acquia Drupal is the same open source Drupal you can get on Drupal.org, but packaged with the most popular modules (so you don't have to figure out which of the 2000+ modules on drupal.org to start with), some network services including faceted search like you see on amazon, and a Mac or Windows stack installer for those who would prefer not to configure an xAMP stack for Drupal (or if you have a stack and there is a tarball too). Free download at http://acquia.com/downloads Full disclosure, I work @ Acquia.
From my experience managing many multi-million line code projects for many years, its the tools (source control, bug system, langauges) and a standard documentation templates (market requirements doc, product requirements doc and detailed design document, unit test document) that are more important to standardize than coding guidlines. Sure everyone should follow a good variable naming convention (hungarian or equivalent) and heavily comment each function's purpose, but beyond that you can waste a lot of team time on arguing about idententation, and micro-commenting guidelines.
Also key is a standard process of developer peer reviews. All developers should have peers review specs. New or mediocre developers should have their code peer reviewed. Proven developers can be excused the code review but not the spec review.
They have a huge team focusing on security.
http://isc.ro is the best on-line scrabble site anyway.
Can any Slashdot PC Hardware engineers enlighten us to the sorry state of PC notebook design? Why is this notebook 10lbs, and Apple can design one 3 lbs lighter? Why do PC Notebook components require 3 extra lbs!?? Also why can't PC laptop manufacturers start using DVD/CD Rom drives that do not have a disk tray (e.g. just insert the disk into a slot like the Apple Powerbook)
Its sells for $2400 on PC Connection http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail. asp?product_id=319674
These are the real specs on it for anyone who cares to know the facts. It does have firewire (2 of them) and 802.11 and svideo out!?!! Sounds sweet to me.
Performance
2.0GHz Intel ® Mobile Pentium ® 4 Processor-M
15.2" widescreen LCD display
40GB hard drive capacity
512MB DDR memory
DVD/CD-RW combo drive
32MB nVidia GeForce4 420 Go Graphics
Weighs only 6.4 lbs.
Connectivity
Integrated 10/100 network capability
Built-in 802.11b wireless networking*
V.92 modem
2 IEEE 1394 (FireWire ® ) ports 2 USB 2.0 ports
Music, movies & more
Sonopür(TM) 24/192 digital audio system
S-video/TV-out
VGA external monitor connection
Built-in stereo speakers
Headphone/audio out jack with volume control located in front
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Microsoft Works® 6.0
CyberLink PowerDVD MPEG2
Product Details Model 110-200A5
Processor
Processor 2.0GHz Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M
Memory
System Memory (RAM) 512MB DRAM (quantity 2x256MB DRAM)
System Memory Expandable To (RAM) 1GB
Type of Memory (RAM) 266MHz double data rate SDRAM
Storage
Hard Drive Type 4200 RPM
Hard Drive Size 40GB
DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive 8x8x24 CD & CD-RW, 8x DVD-ROM
Graphics & Sound
Display 15.2" Widescreen TFT LCD
Resolution 1280 x 854 maximum
Video Memory 32MB SDRAM
Graphics nVidia GeForce4 420 Go
Audio
Sonopür(TM) 24/192 digital audio
Speakers Stereo speakers
Analog Audio out Headphone jack with volume control; use with headphones or Analog Interconnect Cable*
Digital Audio out Through parallel port using available Digital Interconnect Cable*
Video out S-video
Communication & Connectivity
Modem Integrated V.92 modem; data and fax support
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Built-in wireless networking Yes; 802.11b wireless connectivity
USB 2.0 Ports 2
IEEE 1394 (FireWire®) Ports 2
Parallel Ports 1
VGA Ports 1
SPDIF Ports 1
PC Card Slot 1
Input Devices
Keyboard Description 82-key keyboard plus vpr Matrix button
Trackpad Touch pad pointing device
Audio Control 4 button and volume dial
Battery
Battery type Lithium ion (Li-Ion)
Software
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Software Included Microsoft® Works® 6.0 and CyberLink PowerDVD MPEG2 software
Vital Statistics
Dimensions 13.9" W x 10" D x 1.21" H
Product Weight 6.4 lbs.
Warranty Term--Parts 1 year limited
Warranty Term--Labor 1 year limited
Find a good model and see where your needs diverge. When we started on a project like this, the UI was a mess until we based the initial design on an existing piece of software where the user interactions were similar in nature (e.g. office productivity app, multiple views of data = MS Outlook). So if your app has similarities to AutoCad, Photoshop, or any other commercially successful UI, use it as a starting reference model for your UI, and see where the needs of your users diverge from the UI model that app presents. To do this you need to generate typical usage cases, and rank them in terms of how often they will be performed, and make sure those operations are obvious and easy to perform. The other advantage to this approach is users will appreciate that it works just like "software app X" and won't need much additional training.