4 ms·

Microsoft just came out with an Android Emulator this year too. It's faster than any other emulator that I've seen and it's really well integrated with Visual S

Microsoft just came out with an Android Emulator this year too. It's faster than any other emulator that I've seen and it's really well integrated with Visual Studio. If you've never really used Microsofts tools before and all that you've heard about Microsoft has originated from the crowd that hangs out at HN, you can be forgiven for not knowing that they make very fine quality tools.

dr_zoidberg 11y ago
Indeed, their developer tools are some of the best, though the do tend to try locking you in their environment.
joezydeco 11y ago
I've managed a 25-year career out of staying away from anything Microsoft in the embedded arena. WinCE, WinCE Auto, Windows Embedded, Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP Embedded Cool Ranch Flavor, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8, Windows whatever-the-hell-it-is-today. And that philosophy has saved me a lot of pain over the years. The tools might be great, but I don't ship tools. I ship applications that need good solid runtime libraries. Win10 might be a fresh start and that's all well-and-good. But I'll believe it when I see it. Slapping on a buzzword like "IoT" won't change things. I develop lots of IoT stuff and I see no reason to go near Win10.
- Todd 11y ago
  I've managed a 25-year career out of using the right tool for the job. I focus on Windows, but I use Linux, OS X, etc. when it makes sense. The flavors of Windows that you mention are part of a longer term story, and are really just two operating systems: Windows CE and Windows NT. Windows CE was important for targeting the small devices of the 90's era in which it was developed. Now we can run NT on the 'small' devices that we have today. I think that's pretty cool. Now we have Linux and NT (and FreeBSD, etc.) and we have more choices. EDIT: Phrasing
  - joezydeco 11y ago
    Now we can run NT on the 'small' devices that we have today. Funny how things change. A Raspberry Pi isn't a "small" embedded device. It's a small desktop device. It just happens to get embedded in a lot of stuff now. I still can't/won't run WinNT on the 72MHz Cortex-M3 (w/64KiB SRAM) that's the core of my customer's current product.
    - Todd 11y ago
      Good point. CE and NT are definitely not for embedded devices, in the conventional sense of the word. They're also not real-time (as you know), but then neither is Linux. Embedded really is a whole other world. It's a fun space to play near, though, with more conventional systems and tools.
- cobalt 11y ago
  How can you claim it's saved you a lot of pain if you have never done it.
s73v3r 11y ago
But VS isn't used for writing Android apps. The vast majority of those are written in Java, which VS isn't used for.
- cobalt 11y ago
  you can in VS 2015
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    You cannot write Android apps in Java in VS 2015, which is the vast majority of apps. You can do some NDK stuff in C/C++.
    - WorldWideWayne 11y ago
      VS 2015 has Tools for Apache Cordova. That's what integrates with the emulator. You can build apps with Ionic and other PhoneGap/Cordova frameworks. Of course, one can also use Xamarin. I doubt they'll try to compete with the tools for Java.
BuildTheRobots 11y ago
Bear in mind it seems to only emulate x86 targets -and the standard Android emulator seems pretty quick when it's not having to pretend to be an ARM chip... http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2014/11/12/introducing-visual-studio-s-emulator-for-android.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2014/11/12/i... https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/msft-android-emulator-vs.aspx https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/msft-android-emu...

dr_zoidberg 11y ago

Indeed, their developer tools are some of the best, though the do tend to try locking you in their environment.

joezydeco 11y ago

I've managed a 25-year career out of staying away from anything Microsoft in the embedded arena. WinCE, WinCE Auto, Windows Embedded, Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP Embedded Cool Ranch Flavor, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8, Windows whatever-the-hell-it-is-today. And that philosophy has saved me a lot of pain over the years. The tools might be great, but I don't ship tools. I ship applications that need good solid runtime libraries. Win10 might be a fresh start and that's all well-and-good. But I'll believe it when I see it. Slapping on a buzzword like "IoT" won't change things. I develop lots of IoT stuff and I see no reason to go near Win10.

Todd 11y ago
I've managed a 25-year career out of using the right tool for the job. I focus on Windows, but I use Linux, OS X, etc. when it makes sense. The flavors of Windows that you mention are part of a longer term story, and are really just two operating systems: Windows CE and Windows NT. Windows CE was important for targeting the small devices of the 90's era in which it was developed. Now we can run NT on the 'small' devices that we have today. I think that's pretty cool. Now we have Linux and NT (and FreeBSD, etc.) and we have more choices. EDIT: Phrasing
- joezydeco 11y ago
  Now we can run NT on the 'small' devices that we have today. Funny how things change. A Raspberry Pi isn't a "small" embedded device. It's a small desktop device. It just happens to get embedded in a lot of stuff now. I still can't/won't run WinNT on the 72MHz Cortex-M3 (w/64KiB SRAM) that's the core of my customer's current product.
  - Todd 11y ago
    Good point. CE and NT are definitely not for embedded devices, in the conventional sense of the word. They're also not real-time (as you know), but then neither is Linux. Embedded really is a whole other world. It's a fun space to play near, though, with more conventional systems and tools.
cobalt 11y ago
How can you claim it's saved you a lot of pain if you have never done it.

s73v3r 11y ago

But VS isn't used for writing Android apps. The vast majority of those are written in Java, which VS isn't used for.

cobalt 11y ago
you can in VS 2015
- s73v3r 11y ago
  You cannot write Android apps in Java in VS 2015, which is the vast majority of apps. You can do some NDK stuff in C/C++.
  - WorldWideWayne 11y ago
    VS 2015 has Tools for Apache Cordova. That's what integrates with the emulator. You can build apps with Ionic and other PhoneGap/Cordova frameworks. Of course, one can also use Xamarin. I doubt they'll try to compete with the tools for Java.

BuildTheRobots 11y ago

Bear in mind it seems to only emulate x86 targets -and the standard Android emulator seems pretty quick when it's not having to pretend to be an ARM chip... http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2014/11/12/introducing-visual-studio-s-emulator-for-android.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2014/11/12/i... https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/msft-android-emulator-vs.aspx https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/msft-android-emu...