Windows 8 Apps

Microsoft has create a reward for publishing either a Windows 8 or Windows phone app. You get a $100 Visa gift card for each app you publish by the end of June. Whoa. They are really in need of a lot of apps. Looks like they also don't care much about the quality. Poor Microsoft. I did not know they were hurting so bad. I guess in comparison to Apple or Android, they app store is severely lacking.

Okay Microsoft. I might be able to help you out. I mean I can code up some C++ programs, right? Well it is not that easy. Initially I tried to locate a book on developing Windows 8 apps with C++. My local library had no such book. Only 1 book in the entire state looked remotely related. I put in an order for it.

I tried to download some free books. Got one about Windows 8 in general. Found another that was about writing Windows 8 apps, but it was specific to using JavaScript. I read a few chapters of the JavaScript book. Determined I really want to hold out for C++ implementations. Finally I Googled around and located some books about writing Windows 8 apps in C++. However reviews of some of these books indicate the quality is low.

I did fire up Visual Studio 2010 running under Windows 7 to see if I could create an app for Windows 8. There were no templates for any such projects. Then I finally found some material on MSDN that I was looking for. First thing I needed to do was download Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8. Got it. But when I tried to install the thing, it complained that I was not running Windows 8. Darn. Now I regret the choice I made when I purchased my laptop. I could have got a copy of Windows 8 at a nominal charge. I opted to stick with Windows 7. Short term thinking I guess.

The next step is to purchase Windows 8. Then I can work through the example and get down to business writing Windows 8 apps. Might not make the Microsoft deadline. However the real goal is to be able to produce an app that passes Microsoft tests and gets featured in the Windows 8 app store. Good luck to me.