Windows 8 Cloud-Powered Apps

Microsoft’s Cloud plays a greater role in the next major iteration of Windows than it did in any of its predecessors.

This is valid for both the Redmond company’s own Metro apps, but also for the applications built by third-party developers.

According to Mike Torres, the group program manager of the SkyDrive Devices and Roaming team, devs can easily Cloud-power their Windows 8 projects by leveraging resources such as Live Connect and the Live SDK.

“When used together, Metro style apps can use the Live cloud to enable single sign-on with Windows Live ID and access personal data like documents, photos, and videos on SkyDrive with the user’s permission,” Torres explained.

Of course, users need to sign-up and sign-in, namely connect their Windows Live ID and free 25GB SkyDrive storage space with a Windows 8 app. The benefits offered by such a connection far outweighs the pain of having to enter credentials for an application.

Developers also have a lot of work to do when it comes to making sure that user content is centralized in their app, as customers generally spread documents, photos, and videos on different devices.

Tores underlines that Microsoft has taken a number of measures to simplify the work that devs need to put in in order to Cloud-power their apps.

“We’ve made access to the user’s content in the Live cloud available to apps using industry standard protocols such as OAuth for authentication & authorization, JSON as payloads for the data returned when accessing SkyDrive and Hotmail, and XMPP for interoperability with Windows Live Messenger. In addition, we offer the Live SDK for Windows 8 Developer Preview to make development on the WinRT easy, with integration into Visual Studio 11 Express,” he said.

“After the first time a user connects your app to their Windows Live ID, the user will always have a seamless single sign-on experience from any Windows 8 PC where they are signed in with a Windows Live ID. The same extends to your website, where they get a single sign-on experience if they are signed in to their PC with a Windows Live ID or signed in to any site that supports Windows Live ID, such as Hotmail or SkyDrive.”

Developers looking to connect their Windows 8 Metro apps to SkyDrive and let users take advantage of their existing Windows Live ID will need to use the Live SDK. They can sign up for the Live SDK technical Preview on Microsoft Connect.

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.