Develop for Windows 8 using Windows 7? - visual-studio

Is it possible to develop Windows 8 apps using Windows 7?
According to the page http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852363.aspx#Requirements
Windows 7 is supported, by the SDK. I downloaded it.
Now I want to download visual studio (free, that's express, right?), but found only this:
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads#vs
According to this:
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/products/compatibility
It should run on Windows 7. The only free download I found is Express "for Windows 8" -
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads#express-win8
And yeah, it runs only on Windows 8.
What do I have to download to develop for Windows 8 on Windows 7?
Thanks in advance.

The Windows 8 SDK by itself is not an IDE like Visual Studio. Nor does it come with a compiler. So yes, you can install it on Windows 7, but you won't be able to do much with it unless you are willing to do a lot of work. You won't have any templates or things like that. The simplest way to build Windows Store apps (formerly referred to as Metro style) is to use Visual Studio and/or Blend running on a Windows 8 machine - running directly on a machine (recommended) or in a virual environment.

You are confused between Visual Studio for Windows 8 and Windows 8 SDK. Windows 8 SDK does not require Visual Studio for Windows 8.
See its System Requirements.

Here's a link to VS2010 C# Express
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-csharp-express
Download and install that
Download and install .net 4.5 (mentioned in the requirements you linked in your question)
Download and install Win8 SDK
From there hopefully in VS2010 C# Express you'll be able to target .NET 4.5 and include references to the Win8 SDK stuff in your project

You cannot develop Windows 8 (as in WinRT apps) apps on Windows 7. You need to install Windows 8 whether it's natively or virtually.

There are very few resources out there that are up to date. Check you this from Microsoft Dev Center

Related

Can't create project on Visual Studio for Windows Phone

I want to start developing App for Windows Phone.
I have installed Visual Studio 2010 Express, Updating it to SP1. Install Windows Phone SDK 7.1. And when I want to create a new Project, here comes the error.
I have installed .NET Framework 3.5 to 4.5. Silverlight SDK 4.0. What am I missing here ?
I am using Windows 8 32 bit if it has any difference.
Microsoft made developing for windows-phone as complicated as possible. )
So, basically there are two solutions, that are guaranteed to work:
1) You can develop on Visual Studio 2010 for windows-phone-7 on Windows 7.
2)You can develop on Visual Studio 2012 for windows-phone-8 on Windows 8(64-bit).
The other variations are more like a 'dance with tambourine', in my humble opinion.
There are solutions, but they are all tricky.
What may work for you:
Check this question, maybe it helps.
The first answer has a link with instruction of how-to install a sdk for wp7 on windows 8. Try it. However, there's no mention about 32-it system, so it might also not work.
Right now, you've said, you've installed SDK 7.0. Try to to, as suggested in above-mentioned link and install Windows Phone SDK 7.1 and 7.1.1 update.

Is it possible to develop windows phone 7 application on windows 8 with visual studio 2012

I recently upgraded from windows 7 to windows 8.1. Now I need to update my windows phone 7 application. Is there a way to develop WP7 apps on windows 8 with visual studio 2012.
Thanks
No problem. Just download Windows Phone 8 SDK and it will include the earlier stuff for WP7, too.
There is no problem with your use case, just install the Windows Phone SDK.
There is no pb. You have to install VS2012 and the sdk of wp8 then the sdk of wp7.1.
Good luck ;)

Is it possible to develop for Windows Phone 7.5 in VS11 on Windows 7?

I'm about to start working on a Windows Phone project which targets Windows Phone 7.5.
For other projects, I use Visual Studio 11, but when I try to load the WP 7 projects, they show up as unavailable. Apparently, they are "...incompatible with the current edition of Visual Studio" (the message I get when hovering over the project nodes in the solution explorer).
I am able to open the projects in Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone (available from this page along with the 7.1 SDK package), but I would really prefer to work in VS11. I find it hard to believe that there is no way to do this, yet I have not been able to find any clear answers;
Any pointers or ideas on how to make VS11 support WP 7 projects in Windows 7 (if it is at all possible) would be appreciated.
Update: I forgot to mention one critical detail: I am using Windows 7, which prohibits me from using the Windows 8 SDK (which requires Windows 8).
Yes, you can develop Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 applications in same IDE — Visual Studio 2012. Just download and install SDK 8.0.
UPDATE: On Windows 7 please try this solution:
Download all files of this folder on git-hub
Drag WPexpress_full.exe and drop it on wp8sdk_installer.exe
Follow the White Rabbit
But be prepare for some bad news:
Windows Phone 8 emulator doesn't work
Blend for Windows Phone 8 doesn't work
Apparently this does not seem to be possible.
Citing the linked page:
Windows Phone: You can’t open this project in Visual Studio 2012
because it doesn't support the project type.
I'm assuming this will change once we switch to Windows 8, and are able to use the Windows 8 SDK, as andrewpey mentioned.

Backward compatibility of WP7 development on Windows 7 and Windows 8

My apologies if this is a duplicate, but I've not been able to find an answer to this.
My laptop was just upgraded to Windows 8, but my desktop is running Windows 7. I have several Windows Phone 7 apps in various stages of development. When the laptop ran Windows 7 I was able to open WP7 solutions on either machine without problem.
I know the Windows Phone 7.1 SDK has compatibility issues with Windows 8, and that the Windows Phone 8 SDK also supports Windows Phone 7.5, but will I still be able to open solutions on both machines, or will Visual Studio 2012 on Windows 8 save a newer solution format that Visual Studio 2010 won't be able to open? Or can I install the 7.1.1 SDK update on Windows 8 and still develop in VS 2010? (I understand I also need to install Games for Windows Live first.)
The Windows Phone 8 SDK supports both WP8 & WP7.1[/5].
You can open the same solution files with both VS2010 & VS2012.
If, for some reason you cannot open the same solution file it's easy to make versions for each version of VS. (Just take a copy and upgrade one of them.) Unless you're changing the projects within each solution this shouldn't be an issue.

Which platforms will support Visual Studio 11?

We all know that windows 8 will be released very soon, and that Visual Studio 11 will be released too. With Visual Studio 11 you can make Metro UI apps exactly like WP7.
My question is that if we program with VS 11, is it supported on Windows 7, Vista and XP?
You can install VS11, but you will not be able to develop Metro UI unless you're in Windows 8.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-NZ/toolsforwinapps/thread/0155ffb8-b526-46f3-9286-3befd5563b32
That is why they are giving you the Win8 Dev Preview image that you can install VS11 Ultimate and test it out.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Downloads Page
VS11 Developer Preview
Here is the best way to install VS11 and develop Metro apps:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8DeveloperPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx
Visual Studio 11 Beta will only run on Windows 7 or Server 2008 and above.
Targeting depends on the project type. Windows 8 Metro app projects can only be built when running VS11 on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. But the MFC/CRT etc. can target down to Vista.
What sort of application were you thinking of building?

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