When I get a new laptop (or any PC) if it comes pre-loaded with software then I wipe it and start again as, generally, you can get stuck with what now seem to be called (cr)applets from someone who pre-installed the OS for you.
When I got my OS up and running on my Lenovo T61p, I installed the drivers from Lenovo and then I found that I ended up with a bunch of applications that look something like this;
and initially I thought that I’d somehow managed to install the wrong software but, over time, I’ve come to like these applets.
Why is it that I like them?
They seem to have a certain aesthetic to them and a responsive way of behaving that I don’t expect from basic, driver-installed applications like this.
I expect them to be dull and boring but these ones seem to have nice UI and nice effects when I interact with them.
Today I got to puzzling over how these things are built and so off I went into Process Explorer and found that they’re actually built with WPF. I then took one (PWMUI.exe) and dropped it into Reflector and, sure enough;
it’s a bunch of .NET code ( apologies to Lenovo if disassembling this invalidates some license, I promise I did no more than just read the names of the functions as above ).
Very cool!
This, to me, says a couple of things;
- WPF is becoming a lot more mainstream – if it’s being used in applets like this from an OEM which are installed everywhere then it’s an indication of people building new UI’s with WPF.
- UI matters. Without knowing it, I have developed a certain “fondness” for Lenovo because of these applets. I quite like them. I like using them. They make me feel like the product is a quality product because some care and attention has been given to these applets and the way in which they behave.
Go Lenovo! Now, why aren’t you selling the S10 Netbook in the UK? 🙂
Mike Taulty 