Exploring Microsoft’s website I’m finding that they’re holding out on us. Or me. Their website is full of goodies, but you have to be willing to explore, because some of this shit is buried pretty deep.
So there I was, when I stumbled upon Microsoft Office Labs, and found they have all these concepts and projects available to try for free. Kinda like Google labs. And they actually have some pretty neat stuff.
The most useful one I saw is the Speed Launch application. It’s like a dumbed-down app launcher (unlike the totally awesome Launchy), where you can drag items (applications, websites, documents, etc) to a little bullseye at the bottom right of your screen. You can then call the bullseye and launch the content you’ve stored there by either clicking on the item or by typing its name. You can see it in action here:
There are other projects, such as a “Touchless” application which uses your webcam and “markers” to control your computer touchlessly. It looks like there are some pre-built demos, and also a developer’s kit if you’re into that kind of stuff.
I know a lot of people out there hate Microsoft, but since they pretty much rule the computer world, I think we don’t have a choice but to embrace the bastards. Let’s face it, the average computer user will not go through the trouble to learn Linux, and most of us can’t afford Macs.
I’ll post more as I continue my exploration.
