14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since Windows 8 came out, Microsoft has continuously tried to get closer to developers, trying to show them that coding apps for its new operating system is quite a smart choice.
Not many have actually got the message, so the number of apps currently available in the Store is well below Microsoft’s expectations.
And still, the software maker is gearing up for another edition of BUILD, a key event that’s supposed to allow Microsoft to show developers its latest improvements in a number of products. Including Windows RT, that is.
In an interview with Computing, the company's general manager of platform strategy, Tim O' Brien, explains that Windows 8 and Windows RT are identical when it comes to app development, so the tech giant has every reason to continue work on the tablet-oriented operating system.
"There's a huge community of web developers today that are very well-versed in these type of skills, and can bring those skills to Windows and use them to build Windows store applications," O’Brien is quoted as saying.
"We announced [HTML 5 application support] at Build 2011 in Anaheim [California] and here it is, early-mid 2013, and I still talk to developers, reporters ,analysts - smart people who pay attention to the space - and they still think 'Oh, that just means you have great HTML support in your browser'."
This year’s BUILD conference, on the other hand, is all about Windows 8.1 Preview, a major improvement for Windows 8 that brings lots of changes to an otherwise heavily-criticized operating system.
Probably the most important update available in Windows 8.1 Preview is the availability of a Start button, even though it adopts a different behavior than the old version. This time, it doesn’t launch a Start Menu, but instead gets users to the modern Start screen.
It remains to be seen if users indeed like the idea of a Start button that basically does nothing.