The Origami Experience 2.0 has been released for download on the Microsoft Download Center today!

Download: Origami Experience 2.0

The Origami Experience 2.0 is designed for Ultra-Mobile PCs that run Windows Vista. To run the Origami Experience 2.0, a UMPC with the following specifications is recommended:  

• Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
• Minimum 1 GB of system memory
• Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The Origami Experience 2.0 requires the following software installed:  

• Windows Internet Explorer 7. Origami Experience 2.0 requires Internet Explorer 7 for its RSS platform.
• Windows Media Player 11. Origami Central requires Windows Media Player 11 in order to manage and play media.
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The calendar tile in Origami Now works only with Office Outlook 2007 Calendar. The mail tile in Origami Now works with Office Outlook 2007 Mail and Windows Mail.
• The Windows update available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932406 . This update is highly recommended if you use the mail tile in Origami Now with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

I've been taking a closer look at the Origami Experience 2.0 software here on the Windows Experience Blog with a 4-part series of in-depth posts. You can check out Part 1 of the series here where I dive into the enhanced web browsing capabilities of Origami Experience 2.0 including new touch abilities for UMPCs that have Touch Panel Displays. And here in Part 2 I take a look at the new built in RSS feed-reading features. Coming soon - Part 3 will look at the Media features and Part 4 will take a look at Origami Now.

Two weeks ago, I talked about the new Web Browsing capabilities in Origami Central, one of the three apps in the Origami Experience 2.0 software. That was Part 1 of a 4-part series showcasing the new features of the Origami Experience 2.0 software for Ultra Mobile PCs. Here in Part 2, I am going to talk about the new RSS features also in Origami Central.

In browsing the web in Origami Central on my UMPC, I can quickly subscribe to a RSS feed on any website.

Origami Central uses the Windows RSS Platform and the Common Feed List from IE7 for its RSS feeds. Feeds I subscribe to in Origami Central or in IE7 will appear in the Common Feed List. What this means essentially is that Origami Central and IE7 share the same RSS feeds.

When accessing my subscribed feeds in Origami Central, I'm brought into the All Feeds screen. The UI uses large graphic icons making it better to use the touch features when navigating between feeds and folders with feeds inside them. The black icons are folders with feeds inside them and the white icons are individual feeds. Origami Central comes pre-populated with feeds in the Origami Experience folder. I also get a toolbar similar to the one in the browsing experience except the title bar for the RSS experience does not auto-hide. On the toolbar I get a circular-arrow-type icon I can click on that will refresh my feeds.

When I browse to a specific feed, I am presented with the unread posts within that feed in a UI other than a simple list. Instead of a simple list of unread posts - I'm presented with "squares" for each post.  The toolbar at the top lets me know how many unread posts I have for the specific feed. And on the top right-hand side I have a button to mark all as read if needed.

When I read an unread post - the post then becomes grayed out showing me it's been read.  

For a specific post - I can read it right in the RSS experience of Origami Central or browse to the post in the browsing experience in Origami Central. But I never have to leave the Origami Central application.

For audio and video podcasts subscribed to - the RSS experience in Origami Central will play both audio and video directly within the Origami Experience software making for a great experience with podcasts. Here I am looking at NBC Nightly News which is a video podcast:

When I am reading feeds - I can flag a specific post I want to read later on.

I then went back to the All Feeds page (via the link in top toolbar) where there is a folder for any post in a RSS feed that I've flagged. Here you can see my flagged posts:

With Origami Central - I get all the great basic RSS feed reading features as well as the ability to view audio and video podcasts and being able to flag posts. But I never have to leave Origami Central application. RSS feed reading is another new aspect of the Origami Experience 2.0 software.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where I look at the Media capabilities of Origami Central.

In Part 1 of my 4 part series of blog posts looking at the Origami Experience 2.0 software, I am going to talk about one of the most important new experiences in the new release: browsing the web directly in Origami Central. Origami Central, one of the three apps in the Origami Experience, has the built in capability to browse webpages just as you would in IE7. ActiveX controls work just fine in the browsing experience of Origami Central - as does Flash and Silverlight (demo video below!).

In Origami Central, the browsing experience is tied to the toolbar that auto-hides at the top of the window.

Because the toolbar auto-hides, I get a full screen web browsing experience and with a UMPC running at 1024x600 resolution without toolbars and other things taking up useful screen real-estate.

Just like in IE7, I can use the address bar in Origami Central to do web searches. But in Origami Central, when I type something in the address bar (a phrase or URL), it searches through the history of websites I have already visited. I typed in "windows" into the address bar and these 3 previously visited websites came up:

To do web searches, Origami Central provides a really unique way of searching the web using Live Search. When I type in a search term, it provides a list of popular searches that change depending on the term of course. It also provides previous searches I've made.

Basic functionality for web browsing such as adding favorites also exists in Origami Central. In the toolbar, when I click the gadget-looking icon a list of options appears over the website I am on. Those options allow me to add the site to my favorites (which uses the same favorites as IE), add the site's RSS to my RSS feeds, take a snapshot of the site, or use the zoom capabilities.

When I take a snapshot of a website, it takes a complete "freeze" of the page I am at. I can go back to that site and read the site or access links etc. I can even scroll down to view other parts of the site (as long as it's on the same page of course).

My favorites, history, and snapshots are all available in my "Library" by clicking the star icon in the toolbar.

Origami Central also has touch capabilities as well but I think perhaps my demo video will be better at showcasing that feature (as well as the above mentioned features of web browsing in Origami Central. Take a look!

Web Browsing with Origami Central

In the demo video, I utilize the touch capabilities in Origami Central to navigate Photosynth from Microsoft Live Labs. You can also see the overall experience of browsing the web via Origami Central first hand.  I apologize in advance for some parts of the video (like where it sounds like I said "stylist" instead of stylus).

Stay tuned for Part 2 in which I discuss the new RSS capabilities in Origami Experience 2.0 with Origami Central.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be doing a 4 part series on the Origami Experience 2.0 which was announced at CES this year. The Origami Experience software is a "pack" of applications designed specifically for the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista.

The Origami Experience 2.0 software comes with 3 applications that do specific tasks on the UMPC. I'll give a quick overview of these applications in which I'll go into greater detail in my 4 part series of posts about the Origami Experience 2.0.

Origami Central:

Origami Central provides quick access to your Media Library on your UMPC. That means your music, photos and videos. Origami Central lets you play your music, watch your videos and watch photo slideshows. On top of letting you access your media, it also gives you quick access to favorite programs on your UMPC like Microsoft Office OneNote 2007. In the Origami Experience 2.0 - Origami Central comes with a brand new browsing experience. You can now browse the web using Origami Central is full-fidelity web browsing - 100% compatible with IE7. That means you can browse sites that use Flash and other ActiveX controls. It also comes with a RSS feed reader also new to this release.

Origami Now:

Origami Now is a brand new application for the UMPC with the release of Origami Experience 2.0. It is designed to bring you information useful to you very quickly without much interaction. It does this by giving you the ability to customize "tiles". You can navigate between these tiles and their information. What kind of information can be in the tiles? You can configure tiles for weather, email, RSS and more. 

Origami Picture Password:
You can use Origami Picture Password to login to your UMPC.

I'm using the Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC to run the Origami Experience 2.0 on (exact model number and specs here). It works wonderfully for me.

So I've broken up my 4 part series on the Origami Experience 2.0 software into the following parts:

Origami Experience2.0 Part 1: Web Browsing
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 2: RSS
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 3: Media
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 4: Origami Now

Expect part 1 soon!