5 ms·

This article is spot on, but it is easy to read it incorrectly. MSFT has a problem that the best/most popular consumer apps are being developed for the web or i

This article is spot on, but it is easy to read it incorrectly. MSFT has a problem that the best/most popular consumer apps are being developed for the web or iOS, then Android, then far down the road they MIGHT make it to WP7 and someday maybe, eventually they show up on Windows proper. For the last 2 decades MSFT's whole company strategy is to get developers to make apps for Windows Desktop. Name the last big "Windows App" that made you buy a copy of Windows? The web killed that and iOS and Android made it worse. Now Microsoft needs devs to make Windows 8 apps and they are hoping that the inherently huge Windows Desktop ecosystem will make it so cheap to port to mobile that developers will build tablet and mobile apps from their Windows 8 codebase. The only problem is if you have a native app you are talking about 3 or 4 codebases to deal with - iOS, Android, Windows (and its variants), and the web. As it stands now most devs will stop after doing iOS, Android, and web. Who knows if Windows App Store is going to sell enough software for it to be worthwhile to add a 4th codebase. The opportunity in this is for shops who are willing to port popular Apps to Windows. At this point the only apps that are worthwhile to build Windows first are games.

jmcqk6 14y ago
Windows 7 sold 600 million copies. There's your motivation to create Windows 8 apps. Edit: plus, if you're already on a .NET codebase, you can target all of those platforms with minimal fuss (and more).
- marshray 14y ago
  And every single one of those apps that developers have made for Windows 7 are not "Metro" and not eligible for the Microsoft App Store or to run on mobile devices. Only a few of them are even dotnet. The rest will require a near complete rewrite.
  - jimbobimbo 14y ago
    Or, if applications were engineered properly, only UI part will need to be updated.
    - marshray 14y ago
      Have you ever tried porting code to Dotnet/CLR?
      - jmcqk6 14y ago
        I think the point here is that if you have a properly architected .NET application, porting to any of the platforms supported either by microsoft or mono is relatively straight forward. So that would include Windows (all flavors), xbox, windows phone, os x, iOS, Android, linux, playstation, wii, and whatever else the mono folks are cooking up.
        marshray 14y ago
        Are there any major publishers (or a large number of small ones) shipping apps that use Mono to run on non-Microsoft platforms?
        jimbobimbo 14y ago
        Unity engine does it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28game_engine%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28game_engine%29
  - kkowalczyk 14y ago
    What he meant was: if Windows 8 sells like Windows 7, and it will, there will be a mind boggling number of users to target. Windows 8 market will quickly be bigger than Mac OS X market because Windows 8 will ship on every new PC being sold. And since there are no apps, there are lots of opportunities just writing the same kind of apps that people have written in the past, except for Metro. It'll be a new gold rush and you can trust me, developers will rush for that new gold.
    - mattmanser 14y ago
      Well, I don't think anyone's expecting it to sell like Windows 7. They're expecting it to 'flop' like Vista. i.e. sell quite a lot but have a large user base sit on Windows 7 waiting for Windows 9 as people sat on XP after Vista.
antidoh 14y ago
"Name the last big "Windows App" that made you buy a copy of Windows?" I have Windows in case I ever need to use FrameMaker again. Sometimes I boot into Windows to play Portal. So basically none.
TruthElixirX 14y ago
>Name the last big "Windows App" that made you buy a copy of Windows? Visible Analyst 2008 Net Weaver SAP client CoD Black Ops CoD MW3 Insert tons of other video games Internet Explorer And that is just what I personally need a copy of Windows to run.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  Why is IE on that list? Is it substantially better than Chrome or Firefox as to be considered a must have app? You are correct about enterprise apps and (many) games. If you are a big gamer, there is not much point to get a mac.
  - jinushaun 14y ago
    Get real. IE is must have if you're a web developer. Last time I checked, IE was still over 50% of the web. Web developers still need to check their website in a bunch of browsers--including multiple versions of IE since a lot of users are stuck on IE 7 and 8 for whatever reason.
    - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
      I'm not a web developer. Nor do I use Windows at home. I guess your point is that in the enterprise or web developer industry, you need Windows PC, I can totally believe that. Also, if you are an aggressive gamer, you will probably be more happy with a PC than a Mac. If you are outside of those areas, you'll probably be happy with a Mac or whatever else you want to use. If you are a consumer/non-gamer, then it doesn't really matter unless you are into Office; I mean, the must have apps are already on the web (facebook).
  - TruthElixirX 14y ago
    There were several programs in my college classes (enterprise bullshit) that I needed IE to run. I didn't say it was a good thing, but that is the way it was. Also for testing website as listed below.
edwinnathaniel 14y ago
1) Microsoft Office 2) Windows Media Center 3) VS.NET 4) Games

jmcqk6 14y ago

Windows 7 sold 600 million copies. There's your motivation to create Windows 8 apps. Edit: plus, if you're already on a .NET codebase, you can target all of those platforms with minimal fuss (and more).

marshray 14y ago
And every single one of those apps that developers have made for Windows 7 are not "Metro" and not eligible for the Microsoft App Store or to run on mobile devices. Only a few of them are even dotnet. The rest will require a near complete rewrite.
- jimbobimbo 14y ago
  Or, if applications were engineered properly, only UI part will need to be updated.
  - marshray 14y ago
    Have you ever tried porting code to Dotnet/CLR?
    - jmcqk6 14y ago
      I think the point here is that if you have a properly architected .NET application, porting to any of the platforms supported either by microsoft or mono is relatively straight forward. So that would include Windows (all flavors), xbox, windows phone, os x, iOS, Android, linux, playstation, wii, and whatever else the mono folks are cooking up.
      - marshray 14y ago
        Are there any major publishers (or a large number of small ones) shipping apps that use Mono to run on non-Microsoft platforms?
        jimbobimbo 14y ago
        Unity engine does it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28game_engine%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28game_engine%29
- kkowalczyk 14y ago
  What he meant was: if Windows 8 sells like Windows 7, and it will, there will be a mind boggling number of users to target. Windows 8 market will quickly be bigger than Mac OS X market because Windows 8 will ship on every new PC being sold. And since there are no apps, there are lots of opportunities just writing the same kind of apps that people have written in the past, except for Metro. It'll be a new gold rush and you can trust me, developers will rush for that new gold.
  - mattmanser 14y ago
    Well, I don't think anyone's expecting it to sell like Windows 7. They're expecting it to 'flop' like Vista. i.e. sell quite a lot but have a large user base sit on Windows 7 waiting for Windows 9 as people sat on XP after Vista.

antidoh 14y ago

"Name the last big "Windows App" that made you buy a copy of Windows?" I have Windows in case I ever need to use FrameMaker again. Sometimes I boot into Windows to play Portal. So basically none.

TruthElixirX 14y ago

>Name the last big "Windows App" that made you buy a copy of Windows? Visible Analyst 2008 Net Weaver SAP client CoD Black Ops CoD MW3 Insert tons of other video games Internet Explorer And that is just what I personally need a copy of Windows to run.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
Why is IE on that list? Is it substantially better than Chrome or Firefox as to be considered a must have app? You are correct about enterprise apps and (many) games. If you are a big gamer, there is not much point to get a mac.
- jinushaun 14y ago
  Get real. IE is must have if you're a web developer. Last time I checked, IE was still over 50% of the web. Web developers still need to check their website in a bunch of browsers--including multiple versions of IE since a lot of users are stuck on IE 7 and 8 for whatever reason.
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    I'm not a web developer. Nor do I use Windows at home. I guess your point is that in the enterprise or web developer industry, you need Windows PC, I can totally believe that. Also, if you are an aggressive gamer, you will probably be more happy with a PC than a Mac. If you are outside of those areas, you'll probably be happy with a Mac or whatever else you want to use. If you are a consumer/non-gamer, then it doesn't really matter unless you are into Office; I mean, the must have apps are already on the web (facebook).
- TruthElixirX 14y ago
  There were several programs in my college classes (enterprise bullshit) that I needed IE to run. I didn't say it was a good thing, but that is the way it was. Also for testing website as listed below.

edwinnathaniel 14y ago

1) Microsoft Office 2) Windows Media Center 3) VS.NET 4) Games