Installing Windows 8 and the dev tools on your Mac
Using a Mac? Get Windows 8 and Visual Studio Express 2012 installed on your Mac so you can start building Windows Store apps now.
Installing Windows 8 using Boot Camp is a pretty straightforward process. There are lots of great tutorials on the Web to help you out. This following section focuses on issues you may encounter that are specific to Windows 8.
First, you’ll need to download or acquire Windows 8. You can download a free evaluation version of Windows 8 from the Evaluation Center. Please note that this version will expire and is not upgradeable. You can also elect to purchase a fully licensed version of Windows 8 at retail. If you or your company happen to be MSDN subscribers, you can get the RTM version of Windows 8 from the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page…
Windows Store app development: the basics
Ready to get started? This topic explains the basics, including where to get the tools and Windows 8, how to build your first basic app, how to plan your user experience and build your UI, and how to market and sell your apps via the Windows Store.
A Windows Store app is a new type of app that is sold in the Windows Store and runs on Windows 8 devices. They install easily and uninstall cleanly. They run in a single window that fills the entire screen by default. They automatically work with a variety of input sources, including touch, pen, mouse, and keyboard. Instead of static icons, they use live tiles that can display notifications. You can write Windows Store apps in a variety of languages, such as C# and Visual Basic with XAML, C++ with XAML or DirectX, and JavaScript with HTML/CSS…
Windows 8 Product Guide for Developers
Windows 8 has many powerful new features for developers. Discover the new features that let you reimagine your app portfolio as Windows Store apps.
Design case study: iPad to Windows Store app
Learn how to reimagine your iOS apps to follow Microsoft design principles and leverage the Windows platform.
If you’re a developer, Windows 8 gives you an amazing platform to reach the millions of people around the world who use Windows every day to be more productive, creative, and to have fun. With Windows 8, you have unprecedented access and opportunity to reach that worldwide customer base early. Windows 8 represents the most significant platform opportunity available to developers because you have the change to reach millions of people with your amazing Windows Store apps.
Apps are at the center of the Windows 8 experience. They’re alive with activity and vibrant content. Users are immersed in your full-screen, Windows Store apps, where they can focus on their content, rather than on the operating system…
These .psd assets include templates, common controls, and common components such as contracts, notifications, and tiles. Learn more about designing Windows apps.
Getting started with Windows Store apps for iOS developers
This getting started guide steps you through common development and design scenarios from an iOS programmer’s perspective. Learn how to map your knowledge of Objective-C, Cocoa Touch and XCode to Windows Store app development.
If you're an iOS app developer considering developing apps for Windows 8, this article is a great place to start. It shows you how to use Microsoft development tools like Microsoft Visual Studio or Microsoft programming languages like C#. It also introduces you to some of the concepts you'll need to know as you get started with developing apps for the new Windows UI in Windows 8. We call these apps Windows Store apps…
Use this index of common iOS APIs to find equivalent Windows 8 APIs to jumpstart your development projects.
You can leverage your existing skills and code assets to develop highly differentiated Windows Store apps. To ease the transition to Windows Store apps for iOS and Android developers, we provide an API mapping index. The site maps iOS or Android APIs to corresponding Windows 8 APIs with similar functionality…
Objective-C versus C#: an introduction
This topic provides a high-level conceptual mapping of language features and constructs to help you get started with Windows 8 development. It was originally written for Windows Phone 7 app developers, but is equally relevant for Windows Store app developers.
In this chapter, we will look at the various C# features that map to the most common Objective-C features. We will provide code snippets which will ease your way into C# code. We will point to the key C# features that help you write safe code and enhance productivity…
Dev Camps are free events that bring together developers like you to learn more about building apps. Learn interactively and get advice from expert app developers in hundreds of locations around the world.
Are you building a Windows 8 app and want to make it shine? Don’t have Windows devices to test your apps on? Come join us at a Windows Store App Lab to test your app on the hottest new Windows 8 devices and consult with a Windows 8 Expert on development best practices. You’ll be able to test and debug your app on various form factors and devices including ARM tablets, Intel Ultrabooks and more. All for free.
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