Build Windows Discussion

[Indoobidubly]

What MS are doing with the next Windows 8.1 update is giving the user the choice between the new Windows 8 UX and an enhanced desktop UX. I fail to see the problem - in the end everybody wins.

 

I agree.  And that's all most people wanted all along: The OPTION of the Start Menu.  But when this opinion was brought up the "Start Screen 4Eva" contingent threw around tons of name calling and insults.

[gohpep]

What's New for ASP.NET and Web in Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 and Beyond is starting.

I agree.  And that's all most people wanted all along: The OPTION of the Start Menu.  But when this opinion was brought up the "Start Screen 4Eva" contingent threw around tons of name calling and insults.

Choice is great, and I haven't seen anyone deny choice, except for maybe a select few who feel like it would be better for MS to force people to use the new interface with no changes.

[Dot Matrix]

metro crap will be integrated into the desktop (until it eventually doesn't catch on and dies out).

I guess you missed the part where Metro apps can now be built for Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox? 1 purchase, and have the app across all three devices?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I guess you missed the part where Metro apps can now be built for Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox? 1 purchase, and have the app across all three devices?

Which has the potential to be a game changer. Neither Apple nor Google offer anything like this yet.

[greenwizard88]

Windows on Devices is up.

http://www.windowsondevices.com/

 

 

I'm not sure who exactly the Windows on Devices is for. I feel like it's either aimed at large businesses, or hobbyists, but as a hobbyist I don't know what WoD can do that an arduino couldn't.

 

As someone with an arduino, is there a reason to pick up a Galileo board instead of the arduino?

[gohpep]

I'm not sure who exactly the Windows on Devices is for. I feel like it's either aimed at large businesses, or hobbyists, but as a hobbyist I don't know what WoD can do that an arduino couldn't.

 

As someone with an arduino, is there a reason to pick up a Galileo board instead of the arduino?

You have Windows on the Galileo board. You can run Windows apps on your devices.

 

There are many possibilities for this. An ambulance could know about a car crash near them. Your closet could give you clothes suitable to the weather for the day. Basically, sure it is the Arduino or Raspberry Pi, but more powerful, and more compact, with better app support.

[vcfan]

I'm not sure who exactly the Windows on Devices is for. I feel like it's either aimed at large businesses, or hobbyists, but as a hobbyist I don't know what WoD can do that an arduino couldn't.

 

As someone with an arduino, is there a reason to pick up a Galileo board instead of the arduino?

windows tools,libraries,etc. this is huge. I have all these atmel and other devs boards,and everytime I start a project,i have to write complicated stuff from scratch.

[Indoobidubly]

How are you even denying the possibilities on unified apps, especially on the Xbox One. This will make the Xbox One almost as powerful as a desktop, since it can run Office. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Xbox One includes a mouse and keyboard from now on. Windows Phone is the 2nd biggest phone OS in Europe, Latin America, and India! How is it barely alive?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 has new web features. You can edit content (in F12 tools) from the browser, and it will be edit it in the IDE.

Edit powershell commands with color coding.

New Azure integration too, can build straight on Azure, view Azure logs in the IDE, and run worker jobs from VS.

Support for AngularJS, and Markdown.

 

No one is going to use Office on X-Box One.  They buy the X-Box One to play Titanfall and to a lesser extent Netflix.  PC on the TV NEVER caught on.

 

So Windows Phone is the SECOND biggest OS in India and Latin America?!  Wow....  Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for Windows Phone, but everything for the implementation, to the metro interface, etc have been handled abysmally.

[Indoobidubly]

Remember options are the best! Having a powerpoint slideshow on your TV using your Xbox One can be amazing. Plus, the example you mentioned, Netflix, you can have a synced app experience, watch Netflix on your phone, Xbox, and PC all at the same time, control all three devices, etc.

Woah there, you just skipped Europe. And you're not mentioning the release differences between Android and Windows Phone.

 

You are correct, options are the best.

[gohpep]

Now they're talking about the Web API.

You can automatically create web pages documenting your code. Machine and human readable.

Also new JSON features that helps you follow the Schema for JSON.

Then you can POST data to the server using that code documentation using Postman, which is a chrome extension

You can build code based on a database filled with entities based on EF.

It makes a table and writes the database on Azure.

[gohpep]

Some more Keynote info.

 

Some stuff not mentioned at build:

 

http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2014/04/02/cortana-yes-and-many-many-other-great-features-coming-in-windows-phone-8-1.aspx

Music, Video, Podcasts: We?ve made a ton of improvements to these experiences, which are now split out as separate apps and all of which can be updated via the Store. In Music, you can edit your playlists and manage your cloud collection really easily and effectively. Video makes it possible to buy or rent videos from Xbox Music, and Podcasts now lets you subscribe to any RSS feed AND provides a Bing-powered podcast search for every country where Windows Phone is available. Oh? and we?ve improved the phone volume control by including separate sliders for your ringer/notifications and for your apps and media. Just the way you asked for it!

 

People Hub, Email and Accounts: The People Hub has higher-fidelity feeds for your social network content (large photos!) and it connects directly to 3rd-party social networking apps so that you can have easy access to all the full functionality of the 3rd party apps once they are installed. Email now supports S/MIME secure email, and we?ve broadened our support for different account types, now including iCloud.

 

Photos & Camera: The Photos experience now jumps directly to your most recent photos and shows as collections automatically organized, in a view grouped by date and location. Online photo albums are now supported via app-extensibility, so 3rd parties can plug in their services. In the Camera, we?ve updated the UI and added ?burst mode? photography that lets you capture exactly the perfect moment?just like on Windows 8.1.

 

Data Sense: In 8.1 there?s a new ?high savings? mode that cranks up the compression of images as you browse the web so you can browse even farther using less data than WP8.

 

Storage Sense: Helps you get the most out of the memory and storage on your phone. It will help you manage content you have on an SD memory card if your device supports those. You can also move content ? like apps, music, photos ? between the storage built in to your device and an SD memory card.

 

Ever wanted to project your phone screen onto a PC, TV set or projector? We?ve added support for that as well?connect your Windows Phone to a compatible PC using a USB cable and you can run an application on the PC to show the phone screen. Some of the forthcoming new phones will also support wireless Miracast display to compatible TVs and other devices.

 

If you want to try out Windows Phone 8.1 and you are a registered developer, you can update your phone as part of the Developer Preview Program in the first part of April.

 

 

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2014/04/02/thoughts-on-day-1-of-build-2014.aspx

 

Windows 8.1 Update will support Intel?s Bay Trail Cost Reduced options, along with 1GB RAM and 16 GB storage configurations which are popular on entry level tablets and notebooks.

 

We announced today that Windows will be available for 0 dollars to hardware partners for Windows Phones and tablets smaller than 9? in size. This offering also enables hardware partners to provide their customers a one-year subscription to Office 365.

 

A more high quality picture for Windows 9 ("the next iteration of Windows" as said on the blog):

 

There seems to be a user tile. Vista-era icons still not gone.

 

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2014/04/02/windows-8-1-update-important-refinements-to-the-windows-experience.aspx

NOTE: The Windows 8.1 Update will be KB2919355 for those of you interested.

We have made the Windows 8.1 Update available today for MSDN subscribers, and will begin to roll it out for free to Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 customers via Windows Update next Tuesday April 8th. For the majority of folks, they will receive the update automatically. If you are still on Windows 8, you can get the Windows 8.1 Update via the Windows Store on April 8th as well.

 

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/buildingapps/archive/2014/04/02/extending-platform-commonality-through-universal-windows-apps.aspx

Developers are also getting more ways to market and monetize apps, such as common price tiers that bring the popular $0.99 and $1.29 price point to PCs, and updated advertising SDKs that support more rich media standards for better fill rates.

Also, by popular demand, we?ll soon be piloting a program through which developers can directly respond to app reviews to address potential confusion or other issues that may be hurting their ratings. These are just a few of the new Windows Store features being detailed this week during BUILD. Todd Brix will share much more detail about what?s new in Windows Store later today.

jQuery now fully supports Windows Runtime, so web developers can build Windows 8 apps reusing their existing code and skills. Developers who use HTML5 to build cross-platform apps for iOS and Android with tools like Apache Cordova will find it easy to port their apps to Windows.

Today we?re also announcing that Microsoft Open Technologies has brought the Windows Library for JavaScript (WinJS) cross-platform apps and is open sourcing it under the Apache 2.0 license. Find the source code on GitHub. Use this powerful Windows development framework to build high-quality web apps across a variety of browsers and devices beyond Windows, including Chrome, Firefox, Android, and iOS.

[gohpep]

DirectX 12 is aimed at Windows 7 hardware.

[gohpep]

7 minute Build summary: http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/2/5575502/watch-this-microsofts-three-hour-build-keynote-in-seven-minutes

 

Cortana video: http://youtu.be/nX9P6skzZNU

 

More Lumia stuff not mentioned at Build:

http://press.nokia.com/2014/04/02/nokia-introduces-three-lumia-smartphones-for-windows-phone-8-1/

 

- New devices introduce 'SensorCore', which provides innovative low-power motion sensing with Bing Health and Fitness - SensorCore SDK also being piloted with select partners ahead of public release.
- Imaging SDK 1.2 BETA is an updated Nokia Lumia SDK that will enable developers to build the next generation of imaging and social apps.
- The entire Lumia range with Windows Phone 8 will get an over-the-air update called Lumia Cyan, which will combine Windows Phone 8.1 and unique Lumia features into one update package.

 

http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/04/02/nokia-lumia-930-simply-the-best-of-microsoft-and-lumia/

Lumia 930 features/specs

4 microphones

advanced Rich Recording, delivering a flawless video and imaging experience with new Living Images innovation

Front facing camera: HD 1.2 MP wide-angle

 5-inch ClearBlack screen 1080p Full HD display (1920?1080; 441ppi), with Gorilla Glass 3, Super Sensitive Touch and a near 180-degree viewing angle

32GB of internal storage

2GB of RAM

comes in bright orange, bright green, black and white

2420 mAh battery with built-in wireless charging

A new imaging experience adds an integrated Camera Roll with full megapixel zoom and improved sharpness algorithms

The Nokia Lumia 930 is priced at $599 before taxes and subsidies. It will be available from June ? beginning in Europe, Asia, India, Middle East and Latin America ? and will continue to rollout throughout the world (except the US) throughout the summer.

 

http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/04/02/glowing-performance-nokia-lumia-630-nokia-lumia-635/

Lumia 630 and 635 features/specs

Gorilla Glass 3 4.5" ClearBlack screen

changeable shells

1830mAh battery

SensorCore

5MP rear camera with autofocus

512 MB RAM, 8GB eMMC with 128GB micro SD card support

1.2GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

 

And yes, the 635 has dual SIM.

 

Nokia says two different things on different pages:

The Nokia Lumia 630 is expected to rollout in May, beginning with Asia, Russia, China, India and Europe, from $159 for the single-sim variant, and $169 for the dual-sim variant. The Nokia Lumia 635 will be broadly available, including in the US starting in July, from $189.

 

-or-

 

The Nokia Lumia 630 is expected to roll out in May, beginning with Asia, India/Middle East, South America and Europe, at USD 159 for the single-sim variant, and USD 169 for the dual-sim variant before taxes and subsidies. The Nokia Lumia 635 is expected to be broadly available, including in the US starting in this summer, from USD 189 before taxes and subsidies.

[HawkMan]

DirectX 12 is aimed at Windows 7 hardware.

 

what about software 

[gohpep]

what about software 

It seems like only Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Xbox One, but that's only what I've heard. There isn't a limit that I know of for them to support Windows 7. It seems like they are still debating on whether to support Windows 7.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can add usage data snooping with a simple click in Visual Studio 2013 Update 2, and you can filter by region.

[gohpep]

New Azure app profiling features. You can test performance and ping times from multiple locations around the world for your app.

[Guest]

No one is going to use Office on X-Box One.

 

We don't know. We never had that scenario. Lets explore the possibility, might turn out to be a wonderful thing. :)

[gohpep]

Stuff about Enterprise features that weren't mentioned at Build:

 

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/business/archive/2014/04/02/building-the-mobile-workplace-with-windows-and-windows-phone.aspx

 

The Windows 8.1 Update has extended Mobile Device Management (MDM), including configuring Windows Store app whitelists or blacklists, URL filters, and Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer settings.

Their reason for deploying through Windows Update is because it is easier for IT people to deploy, unlike the Store installation for Windows 8.1.

There is support for 64-bit Windows on Intel Atom processors

There is new volume licensing for Windows Embedded.

In May, we will grant Enterprise Sideloading rights to organizations in certain Volume License programs, regardless of what product they purchase, at no additional cost. Other customers who want to deploy custom line-of-business Windows 8.1 apps can purchase Enterprise Sideloading rights for an unlimited number of devices through Volume Licensing at approximately $100. For additional information on sideloading licensing, review the Windows Volume Licensing Guide.

Network Loopback ? Sideloaded Windows Store apps can communicate with desktop processes and apps via network loopback. Now, you can build touch-centric apps while using existing code that depends on Win32 or Base Class Library components, which is otherwise unavailable to Windows Store apps. Developers can use both tools and APIs to enable network loopback for Windows Store apps.

 

Windows Notification Services ? Sideloaded Windows Store apps are now able to receive push notifications via Windows Notification Services. Using a Windows Store developer account, you can reserve an app name and use its identity. This app identity will not be deleted from active developer accounts, even if your app has not been published to the Windows Store. Learn more about the process for reserving an app name on MSDN here.

Windows Phone 8.1 can utilize remote business data removal to protect data if a device is lost or stolen, implements secure and trusted boot, and sandboxes apps to better protect you from malware and rootkits.

Over 90% of the API?s are now shared between Windows 8.1 Update and Windows Phone 8.1.

 

In addition, Enterprise Wi-Fi with EAP-TLS and EAP-TTLS will allow the employee to connect to the corporate Wi-Fi network, also managed with the MDM system. To save cost, Wi-Fi offloading will direct all data traffic to a known Wi-Fi network when in range and stop using the Mobile Operator data connection.

[gohpep]

Windows Phone 8.1 SDK has been released.

https://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/downloadsdk

[Argi]

A lot of this is really awesome.  New management is doing wonders for the company.

[gohpep]

A lot of this is really awesome.  New management is doing wonders for the company.

One Microsoft seems to be working.

[Argi]

A lot of this is really awesome.  New management is doing wonders for the company.

 

One Microsoft encompasses a lot more than you see here.  It's about changing engineering systems and a culture that's rooted in over two decades of history.  It's going to take a while but it's certainly bringing about a lot of optimism. :)  Everyone understands where the company has gone wrong but now the new management is actually doing what's necessary to fix it.

[gohpep]

Windows Update now hosts Windows 8.1 Update *.msus (the ones that were taken down)

There is a support article on the spring update. 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355/en-us

Thanks Faikee!

 

There is a magnet link of the MSDN Windows 8.1 with Update ISO on My Digital Life Forums.

The telemetry data usage logging has a 1 millisecond performance impact on Windows Phone.

It's free and will have premium options in the future.

[gohpep]

Next up is developing for multiple devices.

[gohpep]

Silverlight 7.0 will be supported as well to migrate to Silverlight 8.1