My company is planning on developing for Windows Phone 7. The build server we have, however runs Windows Server 2008. According to the Windows Phone SDK release notes I've read that only Windows Server is not supported for the SDK.
Does anyone have any experience on whether there's a possible workaround to have a Windows Server 2008 machine build Windows Phone 7 projects?
Update: I'm interested in building on a WS 2008 as we're talking about a project with a larger team where continous integration and centralized builds are essential. I'd be hoping we wouldn't have to set up an additional Windows 7 build server for this task.
Most the issues of this nature come into play meeting the emulator's requirements rather than the development tools.
With that said some are hacking around the walls put up to stop people going into the unsupported territory of WS2008.
Judging by your requirements I'd say dive in. If you have the option to test on device or in emulators in Win7, that will place you well.
This post likely of interest.
Aaron Stebner's WebLog : How to install the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh on Windows Server 2008
If someone is interested here is instruction how to modify ISO image of the WinPhone 7.1 SDK for installing it on Windows Server. Basically it's the same Aaron Stebner solution, the only difference is that you need to modify it in the ISO image.
Related
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/
SharePoint 2010 is supported on Win 7 x64, but is it really a good idea to develop under this kind of standalone environment, when the developed solution is expected to be deployed on a Win 2K8 R2 farm?
Officially it is not supported on Windows 7 but it's allowed / ok for development purposes (which is already a good candidate to say officially "no")
The biggest reasons why I usually say no to that kind of environment if one asks for my opinions :
can only be installed as “stand alone”, which is the worst kind of installation (completely automated but also completely unrealistic). No SharePoint expert will ever suggest a standalone installation on production. Why the hell should we develop on a “stand alone mode” single server farm that is completely unrelated to the target environment ?
cannot know if it’s environment related when something is / seems broken (eg : taxonomy service provisioning, broken due to environment or code issue ? -> no time to do Windows 7 + SharePoint 2010 cohabitation issues debugging on corporate projects
when Arpan Shah, Director of SharePoint tools & technlogie says that there are limitations, I guess he knows them better than anyone else : http://reddevnews.com/articles/2010/06/02/sharepoint-qa-arpan-shah.aspx. Since theses limitations have not been fully listed (outside of the user profile service), I better not waste my time wondering if the issue I am facing is related to a limitation / environment gotcha.
The reason why I say "might be ok"
Prototyping / Client OM development / Middle Tier developments / not so complex solution developments are the kind of configuration / development on which a Windows 7 installation might be pretty handy.
I'm developing for SharePoint 2010 on a Windows 7 box for about 10 months. I have not encountered any issues by now.
The only issue I know of is that the "User Profile Service" is not supported under Windows 7.
There is an official installation guide by Microsoft:
Setting Up the Development Environment for SharePoint 2010 on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008
What kind of issues do you expect?
Substitute ASP.NET for SharePoint 2010 and ask the question:
[ASP.NET] is supported on Win 7 x64, but is it really a good idea to develop under this kind of standalone environment, when the developed solution is expected to be deployed on a Win 2K8 R2 farm?
I can't imagine anyone answering "no" when the question is phrased that way. It is the same with SharePoint (after all, SharePoint is just a framework library built on top of ASP.NET).
A SharePoint solution package contains different types of files: XML files, ASPX pages, DLLs, images, CSS files, etc. Other than the DLLs, these files are text and binary files that are portable to any Windows environment. And just like the DLLs compiled in a ASP.NET project, the DLLs from your SharePoint project will work perfectly fine on the server even when compiled on Windows 7.
Is the Windows 7 Home Premium sufficient for software development?
Development would be in Visual Studio 2010.
I'm on a budget so would rather purchase 'Home Premium' rather than 'Professional' or 'Ultimate'.
The Microsoft site says there is next to nothing functionality wise between them that developers would miss. Can anyone confirm or deny?
BTW. Does it come with a version of IIS?
I realize that this is not a technical question. But it is important to me and I'm sure other developers wonder the same thing.
Cheers,
-- Lee
Yes. I write software using VS 2010 in WIndows 7 Home Premium without any trouble.
Basically, yes, it's totally sufficient.
A big upside to professional edition, though, is that it comes with Windows XP mode, essentially a virtual machine with a built-in XP installation (and included license). That can come in handy if you do web development (test things in IE6/7) or need to test applications in the old XP GUI.
Windows XP mode can also be a lifesaver if you need to run older applications that won't run properly in 7. I personally would consider choosing the Professional Edition for that reason.
Don't purchase either, instead buy a MAPS subscription from them. In the UK these cost £199 p.a. (I imagine less in the states) for which you get virtually everything you're likely to need except Visual Studio. Currently you get
10 licences for MS Office 2007
10 for Project
10 for Visio
10 for Outlook
10 for Mappoint (North America only)
1 for Office Communications Server plus 10 CALS
10 for Windows 7 Professional
1 for Windows 7 Ultimate
1 for Windows Server 2008 R2, plus 10 Server CALS and 10 Terminal Server CALS
1 for Windows Web Server 2008 R2
1 for Windows Home Server 2008 R2
1 for Windows Business Server
1 for Windows Exchange server plus 10 CALS
1 for Windows Office Sharepoint, plus 10 CALS
1 for WIndows SQL Server standard plus 10 CALS
Plus a bunchload of other odds and sods servers and products of lesser interest.
MAPS is such good value - and I'm by no means a Microsoft fan - that purchase is pretty much a no-brainer for any software developer who runs Windows in any form.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this Microsoft now offer a Developer version of MAPS which replaces some of the more esoteric servers with Visual Studio. You still get the Office, Windows and SQL Server licences, which makes it just about perfect for any developer.
What you won't find on the Microsoft site, but on Wikipedia, is a nice Comparison Chart.
Compared to Professional, the Home Premium edition lacks:
support for more than 16 GB of memory: start worrying about that in a few years' time
network support in the Backup and Restore Center: not a problem if you handle your own backups
Remote Desktop server: not a problem if you develop only locally
some advanced disk management stuff: not a problem
features for a company network environment: not a problem
Windows XP mode: handy if you want to test on XP, but can be replaced by e.g. VMWare running an XP installation
Multilingual User Interface support: handy if you want to develop and test multilingual desktop applications
In conclusion: Professional may have some additional value if you develop Windows desktop applications for a diverse audience. If not, go for Home Premium.
Since you specifically asked:
Installing IIS 7.5 on Windows 7 Home Premium, Home Basic, or Home Starter (TechNet)
I guess in the past there were issues with developing for IIS on XP Home, but it looks like you can install IIS 7.5 on ANY version of Windows 7, including Starter, which I am surprised to see. I thought Starter was short of being useless for developers.
I agree with Pekka about XP Mode in Pro and Ultimate coming in handy if you need it. Sounds like Brian is already doing it and its working fine (I'm on Vista Ultimate until next week).
Yes. The OS you use really has little to do with development, unless you're targetting something specific to a version or edition of Windows (rare).
Here is a question not directly related to programming.
Being fed up with Microsoft Windows XP Professional, and the lots of eye-candy, I want to try Microsoft Windows Server 2003 as the main OS on my development PC. (The other reason is a better version of IIS than 5.1). And knowing that Win2K3 was originally designed as a Server OS, I think that I should make it somehow more "workstation friendly".
My question is: How do I transform Win2K3 (Standard Edition most probably) into a Workstation OS? Any articles or links are highly appreciated.
PS: My development PC must run mainly MS Visual Studio 2008, MS SQL Server 2008, MS Expression Studio 2, different Oracle software (10gR2, ExpressEdition, 11g) and other little utilities (a testing framework, a subversion tool - TFS, a web browser, a bittorrent client, etc). All of this are compatible with Win2K3, as I previously checked.
Tnks
I only server OS as my workstation, I had Server 2003 before I switched to Server 2008. There's a guide you can find here http://www.msfn.org/win2k3/.
You shouldn't run into any problems. Most of windows xp drivers will work on server 2003, however, some apps won't. Especially those that check for the OS version before installing. But you shouldn't have any problems with VS2008, Expression and anything you posted.
For me the only thing that was troublesome was running iTunes on server 2003, it doesn't look as good.
And if you like the eye candy you can turn it on by starting the Theme service and changing a few settings.
You shouldn't run into any issues running those applications on Server 2003.
The last time I personally ran 2003 on a workstation the only real big change was changing the security settings of internet explorer.
If you run one of the free anti-virus software packages you may find that they will not install on a Server OS.
edit: As another poster has suggested I would also go straight to server 2008 if it is an options. Server 2008 runs very well as a workstation OS and if you're hardware supports it the virtual server works very well.
Here's links for turning 2003 into workstation:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+server+2003+workstation+converter
If you'd like use Windows Server 2008 as a workstation, runs much better (faster) than a regular Vista install:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+server+2008+workstation+converter&aq=1&oq=windows+server+2008+work
or try getting your hands on Windows 7 RC1 which runs quite well.
None of the software types you've listed has any workstation-biased dependencies that I'm aware of. Expression Blend may suffer a bit depending on your hardware and drivers, as WPF is a little more demanding of visual goo than most other development tools for Windows forms.