14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently launched the new Visual Studio 2013 in an event held in New York, but the company has also briefly showcased a new compiler technology specifically aimed at Windows 8.1.
Basically, Redmond is working on a new project that would make applications created in .Net/C# work faster and be more reliable on Windows 8.1, including desktop and tablet versions.
While Microsoft has demonstrated the new project during the event, the company has remained pretty tight-lipped on the subject, with ZDNet reporting that more information is likely to be provided in 2014.
The software giant used Fresh Paint to reveal the power of Project N, the new compiler that would be soon available to all Windows Store app developer. The existing version of Fresh Paint was launched side by side with a new build designed as part of the Project N testing, showing that the latter is actually loading faster than existing applications.
Microsoft is already looking for developers to work on Project N, with a 2012 job ad revealing that the company is planning to compile C# using the native C++ compiler.
“For Windows 8, Microsoft has invested in the automatic vectorization and parallelization of unaltered C++ in an initial effort to move the entire Microsoft software platform to all the new hardware from Intel, AMD and ARM. Microsoft has an ambitious agenda to take those technologies to the next level. We want to expand that technology for both C++ and now C#,” the job ad posted by ZDNet reads.
“To accomplish this, the candidate will work on improving the optimization, vectorization and parallelization phases of the Microsoft C++ compiler both for C++ and C#.”
There are no other details as to when the new compiler technology would be made available to users, but expect this to happen in spring 2014 when Microsoft is also scheduled to roll out the first major update for Windows 8.1.