When Windows Vista is released in December 2006, the new operating system will support applications that employ graphics now used by computer games — clear, stunning and active. The cornerstone for building these new user interfaces is XAML, the XML-based markup language that works with Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly called "Avalon"), Vista's new graphics subsystem that replaces GDI in previous Windows versions.

The problem is that you don't know XAML. While it is fairly easy to understand, you still need a quick guide to bring you up to speed before Vista's release, and that's where this book's simple, no nonsense approach comes in. "XAML in a Nutshell" takes you through several clear Vista examples so that you can learn, firsthand, how this XML-based markup language is used to implement the new generation of user interface graphics.