Developing software for Windows 8

“Consumer applications and business applications have more and more attributes in common,” said Microsoft’s developer division chief, Soma Somasegar, referring to the consumerisation of IT and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement. “If you want to provide that level of user experience, you really want to pick up a platform like Windows 8, with touch interface and a high level of interactivity.”

Connected devices, continuous services” was Microsoft’s mantra at the recent launch of Visual Studio 2012 – the primary development tool for Windows. This is the essence of what the company considers a modern app – another often-repeated phrase. Although Microsoft emphasised that the client for a so-called modern app is not necessarily Windows 8, the tablet personality side of the new operating system (OS) is tailor-made for the concept, which includes the idea of high usability and rich interactivity as well as correct functionality.