Shawn Van Ness has some more details on how ink is changing in Longhorn/Avalon.
Shawn describes a new InkCanvas feature in Avalon. It’s most closely related to InkPicture, which at first glance sounds like a step back in capabilities, but Shawn suggests at the end of his post that more is coming.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see some features dropped and some capabilities added to ink support in the next generation technology. That’s the nature of software development as implementations are transitioned–especially under heavy time pressures such as Longhorn is.
I don’t mind–too much–being kept in the dark right now in terms of what the ink support in Avalon is like, because I’d rather Microsoft focus on implementating as much as time permits, but I’m going to be very eager to see what’s there at PDC.
As I read through each of these tidbits, I’m eager to extrapolate what the DNA of the new ink world will be. Will we see a staggered release with a subset of features first with the first geared towards ease of use? Will we see a next generation architecture that expands the value of ink across a greater variety of applications or even possibly platforms? Or will we see a direct port? My current guess is on the first. My hope would be for the second. PDC is going to give some good hints–if not answers. This is going to be a very important conference in the Inkernet.