A while back I subscribed to the Microsoft Architecture Journal. Over the years it has been one of those magazines that finds it’s way to my desk and remains there till I get to see some of the pictures.

There was a pleasant surprise for me last week when I discovered that Microsoft had come out with a beta version of an Architecture Journal Reader

It is a .NET 3.0 desktop application that is built using WPF . Here is a brief description of the application from the application download page,

“Demonstrating many of the UX principles highlighted in recent issues, this new reader is a locally installed application that enables you to take every issue of the Journal into a searchable, immersive, and easy-to-read experience. The application synchronizes with our content management services so that you’ll automatically have access to the latest Journal issues without needing to download PDF files or checking online.”

The Architecture Journal as you know is a magazine and the Journal Reader application essentially gives you all the Journal content in a digital format right on your desktop without some of the usual browser annoyances. Its goal is to improve the overall user experience of the magazine reader.

Here is a sample screenshot of the Front Page,

Apparently, A lot of publishers have adopted this technology and have implemented news readers using “a news reader SDK”.

I haven’t tried any of these readers yet but the idea is certainly catchy. I for one have always enjoyed a cup of coffee and a newspaper without being distracted on weekend mornings.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Microsoft, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.