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Microsoft updates Kinect SDK claiming improved stability
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Microsoft has updated the software development kit (SDK) for its Kinect sensor.
Microsoft launched the Kinect at the tail end of last year with the motion sensor array not only becoming a sales hit for the firm but a must have for coders who wanted to incorporate gesture driven interfaces. Microsoft was seemingly taken by surprise by the demand from PC users for its Kinect.
Initially videos surfaced of developers reverse engineering the protocol and being able to take a peek at how a Kinect sees the world. Surprisingly given that this is Microsoft, the firm didn't get its size 12s out and stamp on the developers, instead promising that it would offer up an SDK that should help make Kinect and similar motion sensor arrays useful in more than just games.
Microsoft released a Kinect SDK for Windows 7 in June. giving developers access to the skeletal tracking capabilities of the Kinect.
Now Microsoft has updated the Kinect SDK claiming improved stability, especially when the PC goes into sleep mode. There are also improvements to a number of APIs, including removal of some APIs, which the firm claims are "non-functional", adding that they might make a comeback in the future.
Aside from functional improvements, Microsoft also cites improved documentation and improved samples. All of this should make it slightly easier to develop and use the Kinect sensor array as an input device.
The only downside of the Kinect SDK is that at present it only works with Windows 7. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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Windows 7 has far fewer security vulnerabilities than any competing OS.
About ten times fewer than OS-X for instance.
Even Windows XP has less than a third the vulnerabilities of Mac OS-X, and a 5th of the total of common Linux distributions .
See secunia.org
With the well-known security issues prevalent in all Microsoft Windows systems, and the fact that no one but Microsoft (and the botnet operators) really know what code is operating on your system, it seems more than a little unsafe to have a "Kinect" camera pointing at you and your family members 24/7.
The "improved stability during sleep mode" SDK feature sounds like a bad thing to me.
If you think Windows 7 is stable, you should try DOS 6.22. Rock solid.
I would download the previous one to see if Windows 7 can fail. Its by far the best most stable OS ever next to my Linux box. Doesn't freeze up like my buddy's Mac does.