Source codes for the demos are available at http://lunarfrog.com/blog/2011/12/01/cttdnug-presentation/

1. A Developer's View of Windows
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Andrei Marukovich
andrei.marukovich@lunarfrog.com
@taggedfrog

2. Agenda
• Developing for Classic Desktop
• Introduction to Metro UI
• Building Metro applications
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3. Is .NET dead?
vs
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4. Windows 8 platform
HTML /
C# / VB JS
C / C++
or
SL
Metro-style APIs
CLR Internet
Win32
Explorer
Windows Kernel Services
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5. .NET 4.5 Framework
• Pre-installed in Windows 8
• Windows XP is not supported
• Use 4.0 runtime (same as 3.5 use 2.0 RT)
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6. Asynchronous development
• New data structures
• New async APIs
• New keywords in C# and VB
• async
• await
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7. Demo
Async and Await
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8. If it runs on a Windows 7,
it'll run on Windows 8 PC
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9. Demo
Metro UI
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10. App suspension
• Inactive apps are suspended by the OS:
• Apps remain in memory
• No CPU, Disk or Network consumed
• All threads are suspended
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11. App lifecycle states
Not started Running
Suspending
Suspended
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12. Demo
App lifecycle
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13. Windows 8 platform
HTML /
C# / VB JS
Languages C / C++
or
SL
WinRT APIs
CLR Internet
Communication Graphics/Media Devices Win32
Explorer
Application Model
Windows Kernel Services
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14. WinRT
• Object-oriented Win32 replacement
• Native, written in C++
• Based on COM
• .NET-like metadata
• Any language can be used to extend it
• Async everywhere (50ms rule)
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15. Windows 8 platform
HTML / CSS DirectX XAML HTML /
C# / VB JS
C / C++
JavaScript C# / VB or
C / C++
IE 10 Engine CLR SL
WinRT APIs
CLR Internet
Communication Graphics/Media Devices Win32
Explorer
Application Model
Windows Kernel Services
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16. .NET Metro profile
• Subset of Client Profile
• No Remoting
• No System.Data
• No System.Web
• No private reflection, no Emit
• Some APIs replaced with async versions
• Some .NET classes moved to WinRT
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17. XAML for Metro
• New variation of XAML, close to Silverlight
• Standard controls
• Button, TextBox, ComboBox, CheckBox, etc.
• New controls
• ProgressRing
• FlipView
• GridView
• ListView
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18. Demo
• Image Browser
• Scans Pictures library and shows all the
keywords
• Allows to select a keyword
• Shows all the images for the keyword
• Snapping
• Search integration
• FilePicker integration
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19. Demo
Developing Windows 8 apps
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20. App packaging
• .appx file format (zip)
Files / Assets
• Compiled app and
resources
• App Manifest
AppXManifest.xml
• BlockMap
BlockMap
• Digital signature
Signature
.appx package
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21. Installation
• Declarative approach
• Everything installed in one folder
• Installation is on per-user basis
• Installation for first user
• Registration for the next
• No custom actions
• Automatic updates
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22. How to start
• Main start point: http://dev.windows.com/
• Samples
• Metro style app reference and APIs
• Forums
• Windows 8 Developer Preview with developer
tools (x64)
• Installation on a VM
• VirtualBox 4.1.2+
• VMware Workstation 8.0+
• Hyper-V 22

23. Links
• BUILD conference videos
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011
• 8 Traits of Great Metro Style Apps (Jensen Harris)
• Building Windows 8 blog
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/
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24. Q&A
lunarfrog.com/blog
@taggedfrog
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25. Thank you!
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