March 2008 Archives

The .NET Framework v3.5 complete package can be downloaded from Microsoft's web site, but it comes at a hefty price - 197MB.  Within those 197MB, there's a version of the framework for x64, x86, a myriad of system patches that are required by the framework, etc.  The bad news is if software developers decide to redistribute the whole framework, they're tacking almost 200MB onto their customer downloads.  The good news is that it's probably completely unnecessary to do so.

In a spirited discussion on the Business of Software forum, the .NET Framework came under fire for being unreasonably large to download at almost 200mb.  I agree with that argument that if (and only if) your customers have to download the entire package.

As luck would have it, I had an old Windows 2003 (Service Pack 2, with only .NET 1.0 & 1.1) development virtual machine laying around.  As proof of not having any of the .NET 2.0+ bits, here's a screenshot of the %WINNT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework folder:

I installed a trial-ware bandwidth monitoring tool called Bandwidth Monitor Pro to ensure that the Microsoft bootstrap installer (2.7MB) wasn't lying about the size of the bits it would download.  Here's what the .NET 3.5 Installer had to say about the download:

63MB - Not thrilling, but but nice ( better than 200mb!)

The final verdict?  From Googling ".NET Framework 3.5", downloading the 2.7MB installer and it pulling down all the bits it required is a total of 66.64MB downloaded as shown below:

Yes, 66MB is a relatively large download, but it's not the 200mb people are whining about.  If I find the time, and there's some interest - I may do this test with a Vista virtual machine as well.

but their desktops are utter garbage.

I bought a desktop PC from them with 4GB of RAM.  Of course, it can't actually use all 4GB of RAM (yes, even in a 64bit OS) because the BIOS doesn't have an option enabled to allow memory remapping.

When I contacted their executive escalations department (michael@dell.com) to complain, they just passed the buck to some tech...who passed the buck to the product group...who sent me a link to a Microsoft KB article stating that yeah...it's a problem.  For those who don't know what the memory remapping option is/does, it's not Windows specific, this problem would exist in Linux, etc.  Buyer beward.

At the end of the day...my unsolicited advice is...build your own PC, even if it costs $100-300 more.

The model of the PC is the Vostro 400 for those who might be thinking of buying one.

This morning a few of my coworkers and I went to Toronto Code Camp 2008 for .NET.  After getting up at 5am to drive two hours to Toronto (from my home in a suburb of Buffalo, NY) - I was sorely disappointed by the two presentations we went to:

1. Building Workflow Foundation Enabled Windows Communication Foundation Services in .NET 3.5
   
   My first gripe was with the facility - the microphone didn't seem to be working properly, so while the facility staff was working on that, it was fairly distracting.
   
   My second gripe is, the presenter didn't seem to want to be bothered with coming up with his own material, so he simply based it entirely on someone else's presentation (which he states was available as a webcast online.)  Great - then why am I getting up at 5am on a Saturday for this?    He also couldn't manage to get the samples to run well. 
   
2. SOA using WCF & WF
   
   Again, the microphone (in the same room, immediately following the first presentation) would simply randomly start/stop working.  Very annoying and distracting.
   
   This presenter was a much better presenter / speaker than the first, but I came away no smarter (or more informed) than if I had slept in.  I'm far from an expert by any means, but I was looking for some nuggets or gems of wisdom.

I have the following suggestions for organizers of such events:

1. Put in an advanced track for these types of events and start calling the appropriate sessions "Introduction to..." 
   
   Talking about pass by reference vs. pass by value, or explaining what Workflow is, or defining SOA should not be necessary.  If you audience is proactive at keeping up with tech, there's no reason to go over this info.
   
   
2. Provide experience-based wisdom, best practices, trade-offs - books and documentation can more than cover the basics.  If you want to provide real value to the audience, start with a real-world scenario and explain what and why you chose to do it that way.
   

Rather than stick around for the afternoon sessions (given the mediocre morning sessions) and got home a little bit early.  I had high hopes for this mini-conference, especially since it was within driving distance of Buffalo. 

Maybe next time.