How to Write a WinRT XAML Metro App on DevProConnections

Monday, February 06, 2012 by Evan Hutnick | Comments 3
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Happy Monday, XAML lovers! For anyone who has been following along in the rumors space, things with Windows 8 are heating up and it looks like we may soon be seeing the "consumer preview", previously known as the Beta to us tech geeks. I for one welcome the proposed new Start button experience as well as anything else they manage to get into this next release (full disclosure, I was at Build and use that tablet almost as much as my work laptop... my iPad has become a glorified Kindle), especially if it has more developer goodness included.

Getting to my point, however, is that since we're getting ready for another release of the Win8/WinRT platform you had better be sure you are staying up to speed with the new WinRT development side of things... and conveniently we have another resource available to help jump-start your XAML development efforts! Last week our friends at DevProConnections published a new article by yours truly titled 'How to Write a WinRT XAML Metro App' which covers the getting started experience, different view modes, some of the default templates, and most importantly how you can leverage the skills you already have for Silverlight and WPF for developing WinRT XAML applications. Check it out and walk through writing your first WinRT XAML app!

And in case you were looking for more information on what Telerik is doing for Windows 8, we've created a page to highlight our support for the platform, to clear up some of the FUD around the Win8 rumor-mill, and to give you a look at how your current .Net development skills can still be leveraged and can even jump-start your development in Windows 8. We have also been doing our own research, as you can see in this post by Georgi on our Windows Phone team, and have some code running on one of those Build tablets as a proof of concept on this new platform. Don’t worry, we’ll be there when you start to seriously develop for Windows 8, it’s the Telerik way.

Stay tuned for more - we all know the Beta/Consumer Preview is coming soon for Windows 8, but while you wait for that go ahead and download the RadControls for Silverlight and/or WPF to help sharpen your XAML skills!

@EvanHutnick

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Posted in: XAML WinRT DevProConnections

3 Comments

  • Ben Hayat 07 Feb 2012
    Cool article Evan. So, when developing WinRT app using VS11, you're basically switching back & forth between Win Classic (the current style Windows that VS11 can only work in) and WinRT where the application runs. Is this basically going to be the style of development? Isn't annoying (especially during debug mode) to switch constantly between two OS?
    Secondly, what are we developing, a pure "Desktop app" just like we do WPF right now? if yes, what happens to all the .Net library that we have at our finger tips with WPF, that are not in WinRT? Doesn't this seem like we're going back to "Before" Winform (using .Net) was available, we called it Win32 writing in C++. Are we back to 90's with a prettier face?
    I'm really only asking these, because everyone seem to miss/hide the reality to some extend. And I haven't even started that WinRT doesn't even have a Web Server. :-)
    Your old friend...
    ..Ben
  • Evan 07 Feb 2012
    Hey Ben,
    You can switch between the two modes or you can run the debug in the emulator, which is actually quite nice as it supports different resolutions (to easily test different device types for your app).  Otherwise the switch back and forth actually isn't as annoying as it sounds, especially on touch-based software where a quick flick from the left side of the screen switches between the app and VS.  There's also remote debugging, which I haven't dug into but I believe one of the Build sessions touches upon it.
    And you're developing a WinRT Immersive desktop application (aka, full screen, supports Full, Portrait, Snapped views).  Ideally as WinRT developers further it doesn't look like the 90's with a prettier face, but rather an easier way for all devs (XAML, HTML, C#, C++) to tap into a common runtime backbone for developing applications *for the Windows 8 platform*.  If you are developing WPF, you're on Desktop mode and have the full power of .Net with none of the WinRT constraints.  Plus, WinRT right now only has the store deployment model, whereas WPF/SL are still quite open for deployment and management.
    WinRT has some ways to go, but I'm excited to see what the journey looks like.  Can't believe the "Win8 is going to fail" FUD that you're already seeing from that nitwit Steven Vaughan-Nichols on ZDNet and other similarly misinformed tech bloggers.        
  • Ben Hayat 07 Feb 2012
    Evan, my post was not honestly based on FUD or anything the media portraits. I was sincerely asking those questions from someone [yourself] that I value his opinion. I also trust Telerik's wisdom in following certain trends. [Wisely enough] Telerik has chosen to be more cautious on Lightswitch, where as Telerik is Bold on Win8. So, it's not like Telerik is following MSFT blindly. So, that's an important gauge for me to evaluate.
    I guess the final Acid test is, how consumers and Business entities accept and willing to switch. If so, I'm in...

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