Windows 7 "Windows @ Work" Article Contest

This competition is over -- thanks to everyone who participated!

Use Visual Studio 2008 and/or Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 to build a great Windows 7 application, and then post an article on The Code Project. You could win a fully loaded HP Touchsmart tx2z Notebook!

The original rules follow:

Submit a great article explaining how you built an app for Windows 7 – complete with code - and if yours is the highest rated article by both The Code Project community and our judges, you could win a fully loaded HP Touchsmart tx2z Notebook!

Requirements

• Write a great article using the regular Code Project submission guidelines  
• Your article should include screen shots and code samples
• Your article must use Visual Studio 2008 and/or Visual Studio 2010 Beta
• The app should run as a Windows client, and should take advantage of Windows-specific technologies/features found in Windows 7 (such as jumplists, thumbnails, etc.)
• You’ll need to tag your article with the key words "Windows 7”
• Post your article on The Code Project to automatically be entered in the contest

What You Can Win

Codeproject.com members can vote on your article. The articles that are highest-rated by members will be rated by our judges to determine the final winner.  If your article wins, in addition to receiving one of our three great prizes, you’ll be highlighted in The Code Project’s weekly newsletter and on our contest page.

The Rules

1. Articles must follow the guidelines listed above.
2. The articles can use any programming language but must focus on one of the Windows 7 features.
3. No cheating, lying, stealing code, or biting.
4. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
5. Only those who live in jurisdictions in which this contest is legal may enter.
6. Any breach of the rules and the prize will be awarded to the runner up.
7. The contest runs from 3 November 2009 to 3 February 2010, at 11:59:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time.  After the contest closes, no additional entries will be permitted.
8. By entering the contest you agree to the rules, conditions of entry, and agree that your name, member profile information, article, code and any other submitted material can be used for promotional purposes by The Code Project and Microsoft.
9. By entering your article in the contest you agree that The Code Project and Microsoft can link to your article and all accompanying data or information for promotional purposes.

Some Excellent Resources

Below are some great links to help you get started.

Download the Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers
This is the most comprehensive Windows 7 training kit to date.

Get the Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework
Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework provides a source code library that can be used to access some new Windows 7 features from managed code.

Download the Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2
Discover how Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and .NET Framework 4.0 mark the next generation of Microsoft developer tools. This is no namby-pamby beta. It’s a full-octane beta release with a "Go Live" license that you can use to concept, build, test, and deploy killer Windows 7 apps —and you can even use it to create your contest submission.

Check out these Windows 7 resources:
For continued support for developing applications, services, and drivers for Windows 7—including application compatibility resources, a source code library, and much more—bookmark these resources:

MSDN Windows Developer
Training, tools, and software development kits

MSDN Windows Client Software Development Forums
Community advice, tips, and best practices

Sign up for MSDN Flash Newsletter!     
Stay up to date on new resources, the latest guidance, and upcoming events

Discover how to build Innovative Applications with the Windows 7 Developer Guide
Download the Windows 7 Developer Guide to learn how Windows 7 makes it easy for developers to create engaging, user-friendly applications by providing familiar tools and rich development features that allow them to take advantage of the latest PC capabilities.

Check out a Sample Article and then get started on your Windows @ Work contest article submission 
Titled “Display Progress and Overlay Icons for Multiple Views from .NET in Windows 7 Taskbar”, this article describes how to use Windows 7 new taskbar features, progress indication and overlay icon, from unmanaged .NET code. The second part shows you how to manage progress indication and overlay icons in case of multiple views (windows) and provides appropriate missing classes for Windows API Code Pack.

Update to Windows API Code Pack is available!
This release includes bug fixes, new APIs to support DirectWrite and Direct2D, additional samples, and documentation improvements.

Develop Your Windows 7 Application
Windows 7 is a highly anticipated operating system release for Microsoft, and we believe that migration to Windows 7 will be faster than with our last three releases. To get you started, we've set up a clear, three-phase approach to take advantage of the operating system's innovations.

Platform Update for Windows Vista and Platform Update for Windows Server 2008
Start writing applications and drivers that take advantage of the latest Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 technologies, without losing customers on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Get the Windows Driver Kit
Windows Driver Kit includes:  A set of headers, libraries, build tools, build environments, code samples, documentation, and other tools that can be used to create drivers and kernel software

Ultimate Developer Gift:
Buy Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with MSDN Premium before March 22, 2010, and you will automatically be transitioned to the new Visual Studio 2010 Premium with MSDN at no extra cost. Visual Studio 2010 Premium offers all the functionality of today’s Visual Studio Team System 2008 Developer and Database Editions, plus many more new features. With your MSDN Premium subscription, you can use Windows 7 to design, develop, test and demo your applications on as many machines and devices as you need, as long as each person on your team is a subscriber.

Conditions of Entry | Current winners list

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