Meet Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

"A new and elegant look for the applications."

Formerly known as Avalon, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the new graphical subsystem in Windows Vista that provides a holistic means for combining user interface, 2D and 3D graphics, documents, and digital media. Built on the .NET Framework, WPF provides a managed environment for development with the Windows operating system. This takes advantage of the existing investment made by Microsoft in the .NET Framework, and allows developers familiar with .NET technologies to rapidly begin developing applications that leverage WPF.

WPF introduces a new XML-based language to represent UI and user interaction, known as XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language—pronounced “zammel”). Similar to Macromedia’s MXML specification, within XAML elements from the UI are represented as XML tags. Thus, XAML allows applications to dynamically parse and manipulate UI elements at either compile-time or runtime, providing a flexible model for UI composition.

WPF applications can be deployed as standalone applications or as web-based applications hosted in Internet Explorer. As with smart client applications, web-based WPF applications operate in a partial trust sandbox, which protects the client computer against applications with malicious purpose.
Furthermore, WPF applications hosted in Internet Explorer can exploit the capabilities of local client hardware, providing a rich web experience with 3D, digital media, and more, which is the best argument for web-based applications available today.

Submitted by Mohammed Atif