Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Developer Tools March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Beta, BlogoSphere, Downloads Links, Paul Thurrott.Tags: APIs, Basic, Beta, Click, Consumer, Developer, developers, development, editions, environment, Foundation, Here, installation, Last, Metro, Microsoft, Note, platform, Premium, Preview, Professional, Server, standpoint, Studio, team, Test, tools, Ultimate, user, version, versions, Visual, Windows
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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Developer Tools
Microsoft included a pre-release version of Visual Studio 11 in the Windows 8 Developer Preview, of course, giving developers the tools they needed to get started on Metro-style app development. But with the Consumer Preview, these tools are available as a separate Beta download.
Last week, Microsoft provided a sneak peek of Visual Studio 11, though it didn’t speak much about Windows 8 developer issues specifically. I can tell you, however, that the Windows 8 platform–the Metro-based environment–was finalized about two months ago, so the versions of the APIs and platform we see now with the Consumer Preview is pretty close to complete. Too, the Visual Studio 11 Beta is close to final from a user experience standpoint.
So before we discuss anything else, you’ll want to get that download (and installation) going.
Click HERE to download the Visual Studio 11 Beta
(Note that the Beta will include separate downloads of Visual Studio 11 Ultimate, Premium, Professional, Test Professional, Team Foundation Server, Express for Windows 8, Express for Web, and Team Foundation Server Express. Visual C++, Visual C#, and Visual Basic Express editions are not available for this release.)………
Metro style app development February 29, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Microsoft, Software, Windows 8.Tags: Apps, Beta, Blend, Consumer, Desktop, Developer, developers, development, Discover, documentation, Download, Experience, Metro, Microsoft, Preview, Read, Studio, tools, version, Visual, Windows
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Download the tools and SDK
Get the tools to build Metro style apps for Windows 8. Our free download includes Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express Beta for Windows 8 and Blend for Visual Studio 11 Beta to help jumpstart your project.
Download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Experience the newest version of Windows and see for yourself how apps are at the center of the Windows 8 experience.
Explore the documentation
Our docs are optimized to make you more productive. Discover everything you need to plan, build, and sell great apps.
Read the developer guide
Windows 8 Consumer Preview introduces many powerful features for developers. Discover the new features for Desktop, Web, and Metro style app developers.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview February 29, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Microsoft, Software, Windows 8.Tags: Apps, Behind, Blog, Check, Consumer, depth, development, Download, Experience, Explorer, Guide, info, interface, Internet, Meet, news, photos, Preview, product, Read, settings, Still, Swipe, Take, team, teams, Visit, Wall, Watch, Windows
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It’s Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It’s an all-new touch interface. It’s a new Windows for new devices. And it’s your chance to be one of the first to try it out.
See what’s new
Swipe, slide, and zoom
Touch a full-powered PC. It’s fast and it’s fluid. Take natural, direct, hands-on control.
Apps, front and center
Apps in Windows 8 work together to get things done faster. Get them from the Windows Store.
Your Windows, everywhere
Windows 8 can connect you to your files, photos, people, and settings, wherever you sign in.
Wall-to-wall web
Internet Explorer 10 Consumer Preview brings you immersive web browsing on screens big and small.
The familiar, made better
Still devoted to your mouse and keyboard? Windows 8 makes the tried-and-true feel brand new.
The Windows Experience Blog
Read this Windows Experience Blog entry for some tips on getting started with Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
Behind the scenes
Meet the engineering team
Check out a short video for an informal look at Windows 8 from one of the teams that built it.
Building Windows 8
Get the latest news and the inside scoop on the development process from the Windows 8 engineering team blog.
The product guide
Download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for more in-depth, detailed info on this release.
- Download the product guide (.pdf)
The Verge Interview: Stephen Elop ‘more confident than ever’ about Windows Phone | The Verge February 29, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Microsoft, News and politics, Platforms & EcoSystems, Windows Phone.Tags: alliance, announcement, carriers, decision, decisions, development, downsides, ecosystem, effort, Elop, February, impact, Interview, jobs, Live, message, Metro, Microsoft, Moreover, Nokia, player, Stephen, strategy, tablet, transition, Verge, Windows, Xbox
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The Verge Interview: Stephen Elop ‘more confident than ever’ about Windows Phone | The Verge
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is on hand at MWC this week to help spread the company’s message to business partners, carriers, and the press. Ever gregarious and approachable, Elop gave us a few minutes of his time today to discuss the first year of Nokia’s transition, which got started with the announcement of a strategic alliance with Microsoft in February 2011. He was candid about the downsides of this fundamental change in strategy, noting the number of jobs Nokia has had to cut in an effort to streamline operations.
Today, Nokia remains very much in the middle of its transition, says Elop, but a lot has been accomplished in those short twelve months. His present assessment of the decision to move to Windows Phone is no less sanguine than it was a year ago:
"One year later, after making our big decisions about strategy, I am more confident than ever that we made the right decisions."
Nokia’s impact on the development of the Windows Phone OS and ancillary services is only now starting to be felt and there’s a lot more that the company will look to contribute to the effort. Moreover, with Microsoft building up an entire ecosystem around the Metro style UI — with Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Xbox Live — Elop believes there’s great opportunity to expand Nokia’s influence beyond the smartphone but isn’t willing to announce anything quite yet. Needless to say, he’s taking a long hard look at how Nokia can be a player in the tablet space.
