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Just wanted to add a shoutout to WinJS for posterity, with which I built a Windows 8 app that I had published to the Windows Store for a brief period of time. T

Just wanted to add a shoutout to WinJS for posterity, with which I built a Windows 8 app that I had published to the Windows Store for a brief period of time. Then they open-sourced the UI part of WinJS and decided it was just a web framework instead of an officially supported method for building Windows apps iirc, which was the end of my foray into the Windows store. https://github.com/winjs/winjs https://github.com/winjs/winjs

Klonoar 8mo ago
If you want JS, isn’t react-native-windows an option?
- nozzlegear 8mo ago
  It probably is now, but I don't think it was at the time. This was back in the early Windows 8 era, when apps were called "Metro" – 2012 to 2015 I think? I'm primarily a .NET dev by trade, but I wanted to try something different with WinJS so invested time in learning that.
- smileybarry 8mo ago
  WinJS was a bit different, where your app was genuinely just a bundle of JavaScript and a UWP host process dealt with the rendering. (No Electron-esque to deliver with your app) Made for some tiny, succinct apps.
  - Klonoar 8mo ago
    I am once again stating react-native-windows, the key part being native. It doesn't have anything to do with Electron.
    - smileybarry 7mo ago
      This is why I said Electron-esque. I meant you didn't need a wrapper or renderer of some kind. You literally didn't bundle anything executable, your app was a ZIP of JS files & images that Windows spawned a host process for.
pjmlp 8mo ago
I have a WinJS book somewhere, from Microsoft Press. When it was announced at PDC, they only talked about WinJS and nothing else, the folks of .NET Rocks have a few shows where they mention they thought .NET was done, and they needed to refocus into something else. The show where they interview Miguel de Icaza they go into this.
jerhewet 8mo ago
> for posterity Anyone remember this one? Microsoft Press: Learn Java Now (complete with J++ installation CD). https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572314281 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572314281
- jeremycarter 8mo ago
  The CD is available on Archive.org
  - jerhewet 7mo ago
    I have the book (and CD) on my shelf above my machines in my home office. I vaguely recall buying this at Costco, around the same time I bought the 4 volume Microsoft Press C++ series (for dirt cheap, at the time) from Costco. MS Press used to publish some amazing references. I have a LOT of 'em.
- pjmlp 8mo ago
  Of course, the reason for the lawsuit, and redoing Ext-VOS ideas with Cool instead of J++, later renamed to C#. Ironically, Microsoft nowadays not only has their OpenJDK based distro, they even host Java conferences.
domenicd 8mo ago
I was actually part of a team at Barnes & Noble.com which tried to use WinJS for a serious application. (We were previously using Chromium Embedded Framework, or our own hand-rolled WebKit integration, for the desktop e-reader.) It didn't go great. I gave a talk about it. https://youtu.be/HySQR0t_7CI?si=5sfKbb-7u-qqD65R https://youtu.be/HySQR0t_7CI?si=5sfKbb-7u-qqD65R . (Be gentle to my 2012 self's speaking skills.)

Klonoar 8mo ago

If you want JS, isn’t react-native-windows an option?

nozzlegear 8mo ago
It probably is now, but I don't think it was at the time. This was back in the early Windows 8 era, when apps were called "Metro" – 2012 to 2015 I think? I'm primarily a .NET dev by trade, but I wanted to try something different with WinJS so invested time in learning that.
smileybarry 8mo ago
WinJS was a bit different, where your app was genuinely just a bundle of JavaScript and a UWP host process dealt with the rendering. (No Electron-esque to deliver with your app) Made for some tiny, succinct apps.
- Klonoar 8mo ago
  I am once again stating react-native-windows, the key part being native. It doesn't have anything to do with Electron.
  - smileybarry 7mo ago
    This is why I said Electron-esque. I meant you didn't need a wrapper or renderer of some kind. You literally didn't bundle anything executable, your app was a ZIP of JS files & images that Windows spawned a host process for.

pjmlp 8mo ago

I have a WinJS book somewhere, from Microsoft Press. When it was announced at PDC, they only talked about WinJS and nothing else, the folks of .NET Rocks have a few shows where they mention they thought .NET was done, and they needed to refocus into something else. The show where they interview Miguel de Icaza they go into this.

jerhewet 8mo ago

> for posterity Anyone remember this one? Microsoft Press: Learn Java Now (complete with J++ installation CD). https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572314281 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572314281

jeremycarter 8mo ago
The CD is available on Archive.org
- jerhewet 7mo ago
  I have the book (and CD) on my shelf above my machines in my home office. I vaguely recall buying this at Costco, around the same time I bought the 4 volume Microsoft Press C++ series (for dirt cheap, at the time) from Costco. MS Press used to publish some amazing references. I have a LOT of 'em.
pjmlp 8mo ago
Of course, the reason for the lawsuit, and redoing Ext-VOS ideas with Cool instead of J++, later renamed to C#. Ironically, Microsoft nowadays not only has their OpenJDK based distro, they even host Java conferences.

domenicd 8mo ago

I was actually part of a team at Barnes & Noble.com which tried to use WinJS for a serious application. (We were previously using Chromium Embedded Framework, or our own hand-rolled WebKit integration, for the desktop e-reader.) It didn't go great. I gave a talk about it. https://youtu.be/HySQR0t_7CI?si=5sfKbb-7u-qqD65R https://youtu.be/HySQR0t_7CI?si=5sfKbb-7u-qqD65R . (Be gentle to my 2012 self's speaking skills.)