WPF New Features on .NET 3.5 Beta 2

Recently, Microsoft announced the release of Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 (previously codenamed Orcas), SilverLight 1.0 RC, and .NET 3.5 Framework Beta 2.

On this post, I am just gonna list the new features of WPF on .NET 3.5 Beta 2.
* Application Model
o WPF builds on the new add-in model in .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 to allow developers to create visual add-ins, where add-ins provide UIs that are displayed by the host application. You’ll find the add-in types in the System.AddIn namespace in System.AddIn.dll, System.AddIn.Contract.dll, and System.Windows.Presentation.dll.

o XBAPs can now run in FireFox.

o Cookies can be shared between XBAPs and Web applications from the same site of origin.

o Improved XAML intellisense experience for higher productivity.

o Data binding and journaling by URI work together.

* Data Binding
o A new debugging mechanism makes it easier to debug data bindings. (new attached property: System.Diagnostics.PresentationTraceSources.TraceLevel)

o The data validation model now supports the IDataErrorInfo interface. (new class: System.Windows.Controls.DataErrorValidationRule)

o Improvements have been made to BindingListCollectionView to provide better support for binding to a collection that is of type BindingList and for LINQ.

o The behavior of data bindings with a CollectionView over an IEnumerable has been improved to provide better performance and better support for binding to results that are produced by LINQ.

* 3D
o UIElement concepts such as input, focus, and eventing have been brought to 3D. (new classes: System.Windows.UIElement3D which is abstract, and ContainerUIElement3D and ModelUIElement3D in the System.Windows.Media.Media3D namespace)
o Developers can now place interactive 2D content onto a 3D object. (new class: System.Windows.Media.Media3D.Viewport2DVisual3D)

* Documents/Annotations
o The annotations framework now exposes the capabilities for matching annotations with the corresponding annotated objects. (new interface IAnchorInfo and new class TextAnchor in the System.Windows.Annotations namespace)

* Better IME support, RichTextBox extensibility (new property IsDocumentEnabled), performance improvements, and more!