I am an experienced dev that haven't been writing too much code lately, so a bit rusty and would like to have some help in creating the right environment for developing apps for BOTH Win Phone 8.1 (which is what I am carrying on me and would like to test with) and also Win 10 apps (UWP). This is in order to save myself a lot of time in trial and error, which is what I have been doing lately without success.
I have a box at home that is now Windows 10, and I think it was Windows 8 when I bought it. It has both VS 2013 and VS 2015, and I tried to download all the right SDK's to be able to use the Windows Phone 8.1 emulator. It was a nightmare, including going to the BIOS and enabling the Hyper-V thing (I think it worked at some point). Currently I'm having too many problems related to the dev environment, and its getting frustrating. Even the Win 10 emulator is not working. So no UWP emulator nor Windows Phone 8.1 emulator for me right now.
So instead of tackling these problems one by one, my plan is to buy myself a new laptop and build it right, with everything that I need in order to be able to write both Win Phone 8.1 apps, as well as Xamarin, and Windows 10 apps.
I'm wondering if I can ask for a comprehensive list of specifications for me, including recommended OS version (Will Win 7 work? I prefer it), VS version, SDK's, etc.. My goal is that after I buy and setup this laptop, all i'll have to do is just choose the right project and start writing.
Thanks.
Wow, downvoted just like that - not sure why so much.
If someone is looking for an answer or pointer, here's a reply in another forum, which helped me at least:
VS 2017 does not support development of Windows 8.1 store apps - phone or PC. See this link for platform compatibility. You will need to fallback to using VS 2015 for any Windows 8.1 projects. I do Windows 8.1 and 10 development on a single system and it works fine. You just have to have both VS 2015 & 2017 installed. Windows 7 will not work for developing 8.1 and 10 apps. Windows 8.1 has a Universal app target that allowed you to create a single app for PC and phone (I've never used it), but it is nothing like the Windows 10 UWP platform.
I would like to follow the guide (http://microsoftedge.github.io/WebAppsDocs/en-US/win10/CreateHWA.htm) to develop a Windows 10 app, but it says it needs the Windows 10 Insider Preview as the requirements. However, I cannot download it right now as it states that:
We’re very close to the public release of Windows 10 so we’re not onboarding any new PCs to the Windows Insider Program just now.
Can I now have any ways to develop a Windows 10 App? I want to finish making it so that it can be out once Windows 10 is released. Thank you!
You can develop Windows 10 apps with Windows 8.1,too. You need Visual Studio 2015 to and the latest Windows SDK. In the future you will be able to develop from Windows 7, too. (Both has been announced at the build conference in San Francisco.)
There will be some limitations - you can't deploy your Win10 app to your local system, as you are running W8.1 locally. (But you could use a remote or virtual machine).
There will also be some limitations around the XAML designer.
The easiest way is probably to start developing on a remote machine in the cloud. Here's a guide how to set things up: https://github.com/DanielMeixner/DevDreamMachine
As we are getting closer to release of VS2015 and W10, please check out this post, too. There are some limitations around app development between release of VS2015 and release of Windows which might affect you.
http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/06/29/release-dates-and-compatibility-visual-studio-2015-and-windows-10-sdk/
I'm creating apps for windows phone pretty much since the beginning and I was wondering..
Will the Windows Phone apps run on Windows 10 (for Phone) ?
I could not find an answer anywhere and I wonder if the Windows Phone store will just disappear with the new version of Windows.
As Erno said: We don't know yet. But there have been a few clues indeed. I got a newsletter a week ago where Microsoft issued a new challenge on DVLUP that suggests making apps ready for Windows Phone 10 means at least porting them to Windows Phone 8.1:
https://www.dvlup.com/Challenge/c37655f6-1d31-4a67-aa20-dea314a7a03b
Also you can find this statement:
We’re more committed than ever to making sure that you can leverage your work to reach more customers, regardless of where they are, what device type they’re on, or what operating system they’re running. The best way to start preparing for Windows 10 is to start building universal Windows apps today for Windows 8.1.
http://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/01/22/windows-10-is-empowering-developers-to-dream-again-3/
So with all this in mind Windows 10 seems to drop Silverlight for Windows Runtime (at least they are heavily promoting migrating apps there).
After upgrading my 830 to Windows 10 preview, it seems like even Windows phone 7 apps still work under Windows 10 for phone.
I still wonder how are they going to handle the different stores though.
Anyway, I got my answer.
Wait and see !
Am sure that a Windows Phone 8.1 silver light app would continue to run on Windows 10 Mobile you don't even need to upgrade to Windows 10 OS running Visual Studio 2015 to manage your app on Windows 10 Mobile you can continue to develop with the existing development environment(Windows 8.1 and VS 2013). For the query related to the store please follow the link Get ready for the Unified Dev Center dashboard preview and upcoming Store changes
Folks,
I need to maintain a C#/.Net desktop application. So, I need to set myself up with Windows(7?) and Visual Studio.
My current development machine is a Macbook Pro and I would like to continue using it. Overall, I am considering the following recipe:
Install VMWare Fusion or Parallels or VirtualBox for running the Windows OS
Buy a version of Windows to develop on
Buy Windows Developer tools
Having been in the open source universe all this time, I am utterly unfamiliar with the options/packages in the Windows world. I could use some help on the following:
Does the recipe above look fine, or do I need to change something?
What is a good VM environment to buy/use? VirtualBox is free, but Parallels/VMWare promise Windows app that blend in with my Mac windows. Could use some help on this topic
Does MSFT sell a package deal which has bare bones Windows 7 and the necessary dev tools, or do I need to buy the OS and dev tools separately?
Since I only need Windows to churn this C# desktop application, What is the OS version and flavor or Visual Studio I should get?
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
-Raj
* Does the recipe above look fine, or do I need to change something?
Looks fine to me, it is what I do too.
* What is a good VM environment to buy/use? VirtualBox is free, but
Parallels/VMWare promise Windows app that blend in with my Mac windows.
Could use some help on this topic
I've used parallels and VMware fusion and I prefer VMware because I can move machines to other VMware hosts relatively easily. They seem to flip-flop when it comes to performance, but I think this week, Parallels is a little faster (of course this might change with the next fusion update, or the next parallels update).
* Does MSFT sell a package deal which has bare bones Windows 7 and the
necessary dev tools, or do I need to buy the OS and dev tools separately?
I think that this depends on what you are doing. If you purchase an MSDN subscription, you get software that you can use for development (including all windows versions). But if you just purchase Visual Studio, then you need to buy the OS too.
* Since I only need Windows to churn this C# desktop application,
What is the OS version and flavor or
Visual Studio I should get?
You should get whichever OS versions you intend to support your application on.
Good luck,
--jed
Doesn't a Mac have Boot Camp? If so, use that.
It looks fine though. You must buy the OS then the Dev tools (There's Visual C# Express for free though). I would get Windows 7 and either the newest Visual Studio (2008, but 2010 is being released on April 12).
I've used both Bootcamp and VMWare Fusion with 15" MacBook Pro for quite a while (2013 and 2018 models). Bootcamp is better in terms of battery life. Though in terms of performance, Windows VM under macOS can be a better dev box due to significant difference in SSD performance - it's way faster in VM rather than in Bootcamp, especially in random reads/writes (which is crucial for project build time).
I know of a similar question that got closed. But this one is from a developer's point of view.
I must say my experience in terms of software development (not including testing) has been more painful on Vista than on XP. I'm wondering if you guys have had similar experience; and if so, does Windows 7 eases the pain?
I'm using Vista on my lappy and XP at work, both for development purpose, .NET (all sorts), some php, MSSQL and MySQL.
Am setting this as a wiki.
I can honestly say that Windows 7 is what Vista always should have been, and then some. If you're mainly a Linux platform developer, then run that. If you're mainly a Windows platform developer, Windows 7 is the place to be.
In either case you can run the other OS in a VM.
Windows 7 is no better or worse than XP or Vista for development, at least as far I can tell. And yes, Windows 7 is like gas # 2.85/gal, not the 3.65/gal Vista charged -- that is, it seems better because it, well, is -- even if it still isn't great.
However, I find it still "lacking" by default I end up installing cygwin/mingw/rxvt and other tools to make (windows in general) more accommodating to my needs and expectations.
(Of course any particular dev. experience will be tied with what is -- or isn't -- supported across with windows versions and any small changes which have been introduced.)
Here's one data point: most of my fellow developers in MS seem to be running 7 these days (every now and then, you get a question on the team mailing list, "anyone got a Vista box to repro this?" ~). A large number of people ran it as a main development desktop in RC and even beta timeframe, too.
Most of Vista development hurdles, as I understand, are with UAC. 7 throws a few less prompts at you, but for particular usage scenarios when doing development, it probably won't be any different. Of course, you can always turn it off, too, but you could in Vista just as well.
Some nice parts are there if you work with RDP regularly - which you probably do if you have several boxes and don't like KVMs, and/or run VMs on Hyper-V or Virtual PC. When doing RDP 7 to 7, you can get full Aero Glass experience, with all the effects enabled. Apart from the eyecandy, it can be helpful when testing related functionality.
What else... PowerShell 2.0 final out of the box. I find it a very handy development tool, just as shell is on Unix. You can get PSh 2.0 RC for XP or Vista now, but not final (yet).
I think Vista and Win7 are great development environments. After all, it's what a large proportion of your end-users will be using, so you'll be able to see how your app interacts with the newer features of the platform, whilst almost everything else about your app will look and feel the same way as it did on XP.
Take UAC for example. Yes, it can be annoying (much improved in Win7 though), but used properly it works well. It separates administrative privileges from regular user operations. If you don't actively develop in Vista or Win7 then the temptation is to make the problem go away by telling people to turn off UAC or run as administrator all the time. If you develop on that platform then it forces you to come to a better solution.
Used Vista for 3 years, full-time C++ development with predominantly XP customers. No problems.
Have been running W7 RC 64bit for 2 months, same machine, same customers. No problems.
Way better than XP, but that's mainly because I assimilate to new features very quickly and don't resist change.
I find the following things noteworthy to Windows 7 being a lot better to develop on than XP:
A lot more drivers - So you happily plug your headset for meetings, that new video board with 4 monitor support, etc. Such things can be a pain in XP at times.
A lot more support to virtualization - Both of applications (Terminal Services) and of the OS. (Hyper-V)
Improved support for with multiple monitors and new UI to help at that - Aerosnap, gestures, etc.
A log of dev stuff out of the box,
.net runtime, powershell. This all
stuff that you can download and
install on XP, but it is always a
hassle when you have to reinstall
the machine.
Win 7 is a no brainer over XP, definitely something to have if you have the money and the hardware to upgrade, or if you a getting a new computer.
I don't think the question can be answered with "Yes" or "No". The best answer is "It depends".
If Windows 7 solves some problems you had with other operating systems while developing (or at least does not introduce new ones) then it is a good platform for you. On the other side, if you have problems with it then stick to what you know is working.
From my experience: Win 7 is good for me. There are ~3 months since installed it and is working well - is not interfering in any bad way with my development activities. Actually is not the final version of W7, is the RTM one.
It's pretty much same as Vista. The only problem I've ran into is the annoying UAC control which renders shell extensions (like TortoiseSVN) useless, unless you change the ownership of the folder. But I guess it's the same in Vista.
I'm running MySQL, IIS, apache, TortoiseSVN and Visual Studio on Windows 7 and so far everything is working perfectly.
I've personally switched to Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard as a development machine and I find it much faster than Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Try it and you will see the difference. It can be tweaked to be extremely lightweight and is blazingly fast.
But because the question was about Windows 7, I've used the RTM Ultimate x64 as a development machine since August and didn't find much of a difference compared to Vista Ultimate x32 I've used before. Surely it looks more polished but as I'm primarily looking for speed it didn't made much of a difference.
I have two development machines - one a laptop and one a desktop - both running Windows 7. The desktop is considerable faster, not just in launching VS 2008, but the lag I was seeing with ReSharper on some projects is completely gone.
On my laptop, Vista came installed and I have been running Windows 7 since the last beta. With Vista, VS felt sluggish. With W7, not only does it feel faster, I am running SQL Server Standard, a local SMTP Server (SmarterMail), hosting a Lucene.NET index, and running Velocity; all for a project that I am currently working on. And it is just as usable as it was when I just has VS on Vista on the same machine. I never expected I would be able to have all of that running on a laptop and still be usable, so my productivity on the train for my commute has skyrocketed.
One of my favorite features of W7 is the preview pane in Windows Explorer. With it on, I can select a C# file and look at the source without having to open it in VS or a text editor. Really handy for when I need to look at something in another project. I seriously do not have a single complaint about this OS - something I have not been able to say in a long, long time.
How does Visual Studio 2008 run on Windows 7? When I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor it was (ironically) the only software that was flagged as being potentially problematic.
My box:
Windows 7 Professional, VS2008, VS2010, Netbeans with PHP addon, MSSQl, MySQL, PHP, Apache, IIS
Everything works fine
A good platform for developers is Linux, but it depends of your language, .Net the best is Windows, Objective-C is Mac and C is Linux...