14 DAY TRIAL // Fundamentally, there’s little difference between a website and a Metro style app in Windows 8, behavior-wise, since both can act as web pages.
In this regard, it’s not all that difficult for developers to port their websites to Windows 8 as Metro apps.
Not all sites are suited for the migration, but there’s a very thin line between a basic web project and a Windows 8 Metro app leveraging JavaScript.
With a little bit of help from the software giant, this line can disappear completely. “Migrating a web site” is the label of a section on the Windows Dev Center designed to provide guidance to devs looking to port their websites to Windows 8.
“A Metro style app using JavaScript behaves as a typical web page, and can communicate with a web server or peers if you enable the proper security level and permissions,” the Redmond company said.
“A Metro style app using JavaScript is hosted by the WWAHost.exe process, which contains all the functionality of Microsoft Internet Explorer 10.”
Just as a reminder, Metro is a new platform in Windows 8, set up to enable web developers to build applications for the operating system using technologies that they’re already familiar with.
Metro apps can be created using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, and deliver next generation, immersive experiences, which push the operating system completely to the background.
Windows 8 Developer Preview contains a number of Metro apps, including a Metro version of Internet Explorer 10, the successor of IE9.
Early adopters can download the Developer Preview, test Windows 8, and even give Metro apps a spin.
Developers looking to migrate their existing websites to the next version of Windows, can take advantage of the free resources provided to them by the Redmond company.
In the documentation on the Windows Dev Center, “we'll discuss the security and performance considerations for developing a Metro style app using JavaScript with online connectivity and a specific server component,” Microsoft notes.
Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview is available for download here. Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.