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Changes for Windows 8 Metro apps explained

The Windows 8 Release Preview is now out and with that launch comes a ton of new Metro apps available for download in the Windows Store. In a new post on the official Windows 8 app developer blog, Microsoft goes over some of what the company has added for Windows 8 app developers to help them make apps for the Release Preview.

One change deals with how app creators can set how their Windows 8 Metro apps display information to their users, even if that user switches to another PC to see the same app. Microsoft says that app developers can use what it is calling the HighPriority setting to achieve this. The blog post states:

For example, a news reader app could use this HighPriority setting to roam the news article a user was reading. Whenever the user changes articles, the news reader app changes that setting and it roams. If that user were to switch to a different Windows 8 PC, the news reader app can display the last article that the user was reading, so that they can continue reading where they left off on their other device.

Other changes that have been made in the new Release Preview for apps include improved templates for Visual Studio, faster retrieval of content in apps such as those that use photos or music,  and improvements in app design tools. Microsoft has also made a number of improvements to the Dev Center in terms of adding new documentation for app makers.

Source: Microsoft Windows 8 app developer blog

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