The old joke about WPF being the answer to a question that hasn't been asked is still around I guess, and thus a session on WPF is treated by some with a little bit of skepticism. Although only a mini-session, Paul Stovell did a great job of explaining why WPF is now relevant. Actually I don't really think his aim was to address relevance, but he did it none the less. With the release (finally) of tools that help build the XAML behind WPF applications, the space is becoming more and more compelling.
Paul went through the development of a calendar control in WPF and along the way offered an insight into the way of thinking through a control's design (he'll have details on his blog in the coming days no doubt).
I had to leave half way through his sessions sadly, but the few minutes I saw allowed me to answer the basic question:
Why WPF?
Answer: A newer, richer user experience; Tools are finally delivered; Graphics engine is highly performant and easy to harness.
