InfoQ Homepage Windows 8 Content on InfoQ
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Build Sessions to Watch For
With 274 sessions at the //Build/ conference it is hard to predict which are going to be important and which are just filler. Here is a rundown of the sessions we think are going to be important to enterprise developers.
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WinRT: An Object Orientated Replacement for Win32
WinRT is a modern OS-level API that is built upon the Windows kernel. It isn’t just a layer on top of Win32, it is a replacement for it. Built with Object Orientated concepts such as a unified type systems and reflection, it is equally usable from C++, .NET, and dynamic languages such as JavaScript.
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Major UI Themes in Windows 8
Windows 8 Metro doesn’t just change the way applications look, it fundamentally changes how they behave. Applications will no longer be running in the background at all times, they will be suspended whenever they are not view. Rather than a save button, most applications will be constantly updating data on the cloud so that the user can seamlessly switch from one device to the next.
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Windows 8 Replaces the Win32 API
Windows 8 introduces a new core API called WinRT. This is used to develop Metro style applications using C/C++, .NET, or JavaScript. These applications automatically gain features such as hardware acceleration and advanced power management out of the box. Existing Silverlight and WPF applications can be ported to the new “Native XAML” libraries with minimal effort.
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Surface SDK 2.0 Targets Windows Touch Devices
With Microsoft Surface SDK 2.0 one can write applications for both Surface and Windows Touch devices.
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Windows 8 – As we first saw it
The public had its first glimpse of Windows 8 on June 1 at the D9 conference in Taipei. Windows 8, as claimed by Mike Anguilo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem, is designed ground up to work with "touch only" tablets and also devices with keyboard and mouse.
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Microsoft’s Silence is Infuriating .NET Developers
Earlier this month Microsoft unveiled a new touch-centric UI for Windows 8. According to the presentation this new UI allows Windows 8 applications built using just HTML5 and JavaScript. This is great news for web developers looking to do more with the Windows platform, but Microsoft is refusing to say whether or not .NET can also be used for this new application model.
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MIX 2011: What to Expect
HTML 5, Silverlight 5, and a surprise announcement about Windows Phone 7 look to be on the table at MIX 2011. We are also going to see information on Surface 2, ECMAScript 5, the next version of Web Forms, and the Microsoft Media Platform.
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A DSL for Multi-touch Gestures
As part of the TouchToolkit, Frank Maurer and Shahedul Huq Khandkar have created a DSL for multi-touch gestures. The language is in a declarative style with two sections. The first section, labeled “validate”, contains the rules used to determine if a specific gesture is being performed. The second section contains the return values for the gesture.
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What Features Are Desirable for Windows 8?
A number of Windows 8 slides leaked on the Internet, disclosing Microsoft’s plans for the next version of its operating system: hardware supporting touch and voice control, frictionless UX, tablets, faster startup, an app store. Miguel de Icaza, father of Mono, has expressed what he would like to see in Windows 8: sandboxed execution system, no-install apps, a public contract for extension points.
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The Widespread Release of the Surface SDK Brings New Features
The Microsoft Surface SDK has been released to the general public. Along with lifting the restrictions on who can use it, there is a service pack bringing new functionality including contact visualizations “that provide users with instant and consistent visual feedback when they touch the Microsoft Surface screen.”
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Microsoft Bringing Multitouch to Windows
Microsoft is planning on publicly releasing the Surface SDK at this year's PDC. This is seen by some as the next step towards bringing their multitouch technology to the Windows operating system.
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Windows 7 Will Be the Next Operating System from Microsoft
Chris Flores, a Microsoft director on the Windows Client Communications Team, talks about the future of Windows.