Microsoft MaxMicrosoft Max
Max is the codename of a multimedia software prototype, developed by Microsoft with WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) technology, and equipped with the following functionalities :
- Image lists management : creation, advanced presentation (3D, animations), pen annotations and Internet sharing.
- RSS newsreader.
Image lists management
A list gathers pictures from various directories on the hard disk.
The first thing to do in Max is to create a list by means of the home screen button Create and share a list. By default, the list is named List followed by the current date. This name can be modified once the list created. A screen makes it possible to add images to the list.
The list management screen makes it possible to arrange the images under various presentations :
- Thumbnail.
- Album : one or more images by page, with possibility of changing image distribution among the pages.
- Mantle : the same as Album, but the images are displayed in 3 dimensions on a glossy surface.
A slider makes it possible to change the display size of the image. Max uses here all the WPF technology potential, with animation effects when rearranging the images.
A list can be played (Play button) as a slide show with transitional effects.
It is possible to manually annotate an image with the pen (Tablet PC) or with the mouse. Annotations are stored independantly of the image file, which is not modified.
At last, the My lists home screen button displays all the user-defined image lists :
Connection and image sharing
Image list sharing is done by pear to pear networking between 2 computers on which Max is installed.
Microsoft associates to Max a server infrastructure to manage this sharing. Thus it is necessary to create an account on the server. This is done at the first Max launching, by means of a Passport account. Thus the identifier of the account is an e-mail address.
Then it becomes possible to share one or more lists of images, associating them a message and the recipients e-mail list. But no e-mail will be sent. When a recipient will launch Max, he will connect to the server and see in the heading Other people's lists the lists which are proposed to him for sharing. Then he will be able to connect via Max to the owner's lists and to download shared pictures.
Max as a newsreader
Max incorporate an Atom / RSS reader (Read news home screen button), and thus allows to automatically receive information of various servers, whose list is configurable (Add web feed button). The articles are displayed under FlowDocument vectorial format, which ensures an optimal reading experience.
Max Installation
The RC1 (Release Candidate 1) version of Max requires Windows XP SP2 US.
But as you can read on the Microsoft Max site , the final Max version will not exist as described in this article. Max was and will stay an experimental application.