Microsoft Details Android to Windows Store App Porting
As Microsoft gears up for the Windows 8 and Surface launch on October 26th they are actively trying to build up their new Windows Store with new apps as part of the launch preparation.  While the company has maintained that Windows Phone apps would not be ported to the store in an effort to grow the ecosystem, it seems that Android apps are fair game.  Today, Robin Yang writing on the MSDN blog, detailed how the process for Android developers to move to the new Windows platform can be accomplished.  The article very specifically claims that "This document is for Android application developers who are looking to develop their applications for Windows 8."
Throughout the process of building Windows 8 Microsoft has attempted to lure developers from other platforms and to make sure all of the big services like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds and others would be a part of the market before the OS debuted. Â They have also built quite a few apps of their own, including SkyDrive and OneNote.
Yang details a number of tools that Microsoft has made available to ease this process:
- An IDE (for developers): Visual Studio 2012 (VS2012)
- A user interface design tool (for designers): Blend for Visual Studio 2012
- Libraries: Windows Runtime (WinRT), DirectX
- Simulator for tablet to test and debug applications
Microsoft has made this as easy as possible and, for developers, the article goes into lengthy detail and comparisons between the programming architecture and languages and other aspects.
This is pretty in-depth stuff and is likely only of interest to developers, but Microsoft certainly needs that group to step forward and help them prepare for the next generation of the Windows operating system. Â The company has already gone on record as saying they expect to have 100,000 apps within 90 days on launch. Â That would be a significant jump from the 3,600 that are available in the Store now.
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