14 DAY TRIAL // The first public pre-Beta release of Windows 8 is designed to spark developer interest for the platform, as the “Developer Preview” label shows.
Microsoft stressed on several occasions that early adopters were still to exercise their patience until the core user experience of Windows 8 would be complete, while devs can already start enjoying all the new goodies packed in the Windows Developer Preview, including the Metro platform.
And speaking of Windows 8 Metro app development, the software giant is offering an impressive collection of hands-on labs.
A part of the official BUILD site is hosting the Windows 8 hands-on labs, resources offered free of charge by the Redmond company.
Devs can for example get insight on how to build Windows 8 Metro apps by using JavaScript. Of course, Microsoft does an excellent job of helping early adopters make the best of resources such as Expression Blend 5 and Visual Studio 11.
For those developers who prefer C# and Visual Basic to JS, a number of hands-on labs are also available, again, focused on the creation of Metro applications for the next major version of Windows.
But of course, the Redmond company is not forgetting about devs who prefer C++. They also get their fair share of hands-on labs.
At the same time, Microsoft is providing resources set up to simplify game development, as well as the use of technologies such as Direct3D and Direct2D. There’s even a hands-on lab dealing with the integration of the Windows Driver Kit with Visual Studio.
The Windows 8 Hands-On Labs will certainly come in handy to developers starting to put together Metro apps for the next iteration of Windows, and early adopters should not hesitate to put them to good use.
At the same time, the BUILD site and the Windows Dev Center offer a range of additional resources bound to simplify development for Windows 8.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.