MFC Updates for Visual Studio 2008 and Beyond

There is some information about the upcoming updates to MFC on the TechEd site:

TLA404 MFC Updates for Visual Studio 2008 and Beyond

This session will demonstrate the new features added to MFC in Visual Studio 2008, including support for Vista Common Dialogs, Vista Common Controls, the Microsoft Office 2007 Look and Feel (including support for an Office Ribbon style interface), Office and Visual Studio style Docking Toolbars and Tabbed Documents. We will also talk about our plans to evolve the MFC library for Visual C++ 10 and beyond. This is an in-depth session designed for experienced C++/MFC programmers.


I wonder what this means for a Company like Codejock that Microsoft will deliver such components out of the box with the new Studio.

Seriously, there's just no comparison. CodeJock user interfaces are light-years ahead of these updates from Microsoft.

Hello Kirk,

This is actually very interesting, and it's clear that several things are happening here.

First, Microsoft has received significant backlash from native code developers for having effectively abandoned VC++ (and related libraries such as MFC) in favor of their big "native code" push. It seems they've taken a step back and reviewed their strategy, and are attempting to compensate (to some degree) for their short-sightedness. This is a good thing, and it's long overdue.

In evaluating how they might improve the VC++ developer experience, I'm guessing that Microsoft took a look at their internal resources and decided that it didn't make sense to start building new MFC user interface controls from existing code. After all, they've let MFC languish severely and it would take a massive internal push to modernize what exists today. Besides, why build what you can buy?

The decision to license BCGSoft was probably somewhat arbitrary, and I'm guessing they didn't have much time to make it. If it was March of '07 when they made a decision to license something and they wanted to release something by March of '08, then had to had to act quickly.

I found another Channel 9 video that shows, in more detail, how they're integrating licensed BCGSoft components into MFC 2008:

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=355087

It's a shame, without a doubt, that MS couldn't have made a more measured decision in terms of control licensing. I'm not familiar with BCGSoft personally (I've been using CodeJock stuff for a long time), but I have to believe the integration of such is a significant advancement for MFC, even if the result is ultimately inferior to CodeJock components in many ways.

I think your customers already know how committed CodeJock is to product quality, Kirk. But in my opinion, business probably just got a bit tougher - you'll need to innovate fairly aggressively now that some of the "bread and butter" controls (docking panels, ribbon, etc.) will be available at no charge from MS. We'll be relying on CodeJock not only for superior implementations, but also for a superior vision of the future.

Finally, I doubt there's much developers could say to Microsoft that would change their current direction on these issues. They've made their decisions and they're going to push them forward, for better or for worse. My advice is to forget about Microsoft and focus on what developers need, and continue to stay ahead of the curve.

Posted my opinion on the VC blog here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2007/11/09/channel-9-pat-brenner-overview-of-new-mfc-update.aspx#comments

There are more posts about the new controls on the blog:

http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/

Hi,

ABuenger wrote: Posted my opinion on the VC blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2007/11/09/channel-9-pat-brenner-overview-of-new-mfc-update.aspx#comments

Support wrote: We are considering additional installation options that will allow end users to pick and choose which components they want to install. This way they will have more flexibility when using Codejock controls.

Kirk, don't waste too much time figuring out how to deal with the integration of parts of the BCGControlBar into the next MFC. The EXCLUDE macros are just fine. I don't want to mix BCGs and Codejocks components and I doubt any of your customers want to do this. I prefer to get all controls from a single vendor.

There are still many new controls left you can add to your toolkit, grid, chart, gauges, .... there are many suggestions on the wish list.