Visual Studio Express "for Windows" vs "for Windows Desktop" - windows

I was reinstalling an old version of MSVC++ to try some things, and I saw two different versions:
What's the difference between:
Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop with Update 5
and
Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows with Update 5
I thought for Windows == for Windows Desktop + something else (for Windows Phone?)
i.e. for Windows would be the bigger one. But it's not:
... for Windows DVD 2.9 GB
... for Windows Desktop DVD 3.3 GB
What is the difference between Visual Studio Express "for Windows" and "for Windows Desktop"?
Note: Here is the download link for Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop with Update 5.

Windows Desktop = old classic Win32 C++, C# WinForms and WPF programs, while Windows is only the newer store apps for (phone) 8.x.
Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop enables the creation of
desktop apps in C#, Visual Basic, and C++, and supports Windows
Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Forms, and Win32.
VISUAL STUDIO 2013 EXPRESS FOR WINDOWS (STORE) The tools include a full-featured code editor, a powerful debugger, a focused profiler,
and rich language support that you can use to build apps that you
write in HTML5/JavaScript, C++, C#, or Visual Basic. Visual Studio
Express 2013 for Windows also includes tools for Windows Phone 8.0
development and Windows Phone emulators that you can use to test how
your Windows Phone apps will run on different devices.
So, install the Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop.

Related

Developing Windows Phone 8.1 apps in Visual Studio Express

I want to dive in into developing windows store apps. I am using visual studio express 2013 for desktop and my OS is windows 8.1. But when I want to follow a simple hello world project and I want to create a new project I am already limited in some way. I have to go to Installed > (I want to use C#) Visual C# > Universal or Windows Apps or Windows Phone Apps. But none of these 3 points are available when I want to follow the tutorial. Do you have any suggestions why this might be the case ?
To develop Windows Phone 8.1 apps, you need Visual Studio 2013 Express for Windows. You're using the version for Desktop which is why you don't see the necessary templates.
You can use the tools in Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows to
create innovative and compelling Windows Phone and Windows Store apps
on Windows 8.1.
You can find and download the Visual Studio 2013 Express for Windows here.

how to upgrade visual studio to support c# desktop apps

I have Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows 8 apps installed, now i want to upgrade it to also support c# desktop apps.
Can you please help me out in upgrading it so that in the end I want to have only one Visual studio that supports both Windows 8 Store apps + C# desktop apps.
You'd need to buy Visual Studio Professional 2013 if you want a single program to do both.
Microsoft have 3 Express versions:
Express 2013 for Web - (does ASP.NET & ASP.NET MVC web sites)
Express 2013 for Windows - (does Windows 8 and windows Phone apps)
Express 2013 for Windows Desktop - does C# desktop apps (Winforms, WPF)
To do both Windows 8 Store apps and C# desktop apps you need 2 versions of express installed.
The Professional (and higher) versions however can do all these types of project in one application.
See Microsoft for details:
Visual Studio Express versions
Visual Studio Professional NB - it can be bought with or without a MSDN subscription.

Visual Studio for Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry

I'm currently using Visual Studio 2008 with WinCE 7 BSPs. If I'd like to move on to Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry BSPs, can I use Visual Studio 2008 itself or I need to install VS 2013? My OS is Windows 7. Also, what all base BSPs come along with the installation?
Windows Embedded INDUSTRY 8.1 is based on full-windows and does not require Visual Studio or any other development tool to configure the OS. You can do that interactively.
Windows Embedded COMPACT 2013 (sorry for the bold, but it's to highlight naming differences) is the next release of WinCE7 (you can call it WinCE8, no one will be offended :) ) and requires Visual Studio 2012.

Windows Phone on Visual Studio and windows 8

Currently I am using visual studio 2010 in a new Windows 8 machine and I am a Windows Phone developer. Windows Phone SDK works properly only in VS1012 on Windows 8.
In case of Windows Phone, what's the difference between using visual studio express or add-in on visual studio 2012 ultimate?
Visual Studio Ultimate is a powerful professional and commercial tool. It offers you to install extensions, testing capabilities and all sorts of cool stuff that you may or may not need or even not know they exist. To compare editions in details, go here.
If you just wish to develop apps for Windows Phone 8, Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone will be fine - complete SDK is available to you, and in that sense it shouldn't be any different. You get the emulator(s), Blend etc. However, you will have to switch to other Express versions if you wish to develop for other platforms, too.
From an SDK feature perspective, there is no difference. If you already have VS2012 Ultimate, then you should use it with the add-in because of all of the extra capabilities that VS2012 Ultimate has over VS2012 Express. But if you don't have Ultimate already, it's worth noting that VS2012 Express is free and Ultimate is rather pricey - so if all you want to do is develop WP apps/games, Express is probably sufficient for your needs.

Can I use the new VS 2011 to publish Windows XP Compatible Programs?

Can I use Visual Studio 2011 running on the Windows 8 Developer Preview to publish programs that will not only run on Windows 8, but that will run on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8? I know that using Visual Studio 2010 while Running XP can produce applications that will run on XP and up, but can it work the other way?
UPDATE: By Publish I mean that I want to package my application into an installer and distribute it.
I am Using Visual Basic .NET as the programing language within Visual Studio 2011
UPDATE 2: Also, If I can't make my app available on XP through 8, then can I use Visual Studio 2010 to do this or is it a matter of Operating Systems?
The version of VS11 that comes in the Win8 DP will only let you build Win8 apps. You can install VS2010 side by side with it though to do other types of development.

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