14 DAY TRIAL // Since Windows Developer Preview is focused on sparking the app building process for Windows 8, it should be no real surprise that a range of developer resources are available from Microsoft along with Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3). Early adopters starting to test Windows 8 Developer Preview can also take out for a spin releases such as Visual Studio 2011 Developer Preview and Expression 5 Blend Developer Preview.
Developers starting to put together Windows 8 projects, including Metro apps, have a new Windows SKD at their disposal.
According to Microsoft, the Windows 8 Developer Preview SDK also includes the DirectX 11 software development kit, since there won’t be any more standalone DX SDKs provided.
On MSDN, the software giant also published a list of application programming interface elements that are new to Windows 8.
“The (…) topics describe the API elements that are new for Windows Developer Preview,” the company notes on the “Windows Developer Preview API List” page.
Microsoft stresses that the documentation offered is only preliminary and that changes can occur. Of course, Windows 8 is still in the pre-Beta stage of the development process, and the Developer Preview is actually an M3 release.
Still, the availability of the Windows Developer Preview needs to be interpreted as an invitation from Microsoft to start building Windows 8 applications.
The Redmond company is listing the APIs for Metro style apps on a separate page from the “Windows Developer Preview API List.”
After all, the new Metro apps and the applications for the desktop are completely separated in Windows 8, and Microsoft doesn’t look like it will be unifying them anytime soon.
Developers can continue building traditional Windows projects, but they can also leverage the new resources at their disposal in order to create Metro apps.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.