Microsoft Open Sources Windows Scripting Tool Mayhem

Microsoft has released as open source a program that helps users link different Windows applications in a single workflow. The program, called Mayhem, has been donated to the Outercurve Foundation.

Developed by Microsoft's applied sciences research group, Mayhem allows people with no programming skills to link together different Windows programs to carry out tasks across programs. With Mayhem, users can stage repeatable actions, like using a cellphone to control a PowerPoint presentation, or to send a user an email whenever a weather program reports that the outside temperature has fallen below a certain point.

Mayhem connects graphical programs in a way that is similar to how batch files string together programs in a command-line environment. Developers create modules for specific Windows programs that then can be used within Mayhem to identify events and trigger actions within those programs.

"Mayhem is a collection of events and actions you tie together," said Paul Dietz, who is Microsoft's project leader for Mayhem. The applied sciences group first designed the software to expand the use of webcams beyond video chats. They realized that the software could work with any Windows programs...