Windows 8 as seen by developer. Overview of Metro style app development.

1. Windows 8
Hot or Not
Piotr Włodek

2. Agenda
Metro Charms Contracts WinRT
App Execution
Motion Summary
Environment

3. Metro UI

4. Metro Design

5. Metro Design
• Typography
• Motion
• Content not Chrome

6. Photoshop METRO’ified

7. Notification
• Tile notification
– Square or wide
– Badge (number or glypth)
• Toast notification
– Standard toast, 7 sec (e-mail, IM, social media)
– Long duration toast, 30 sec (person waiting)
• Push notification
– Windows Push Notification Services

8. WIN 8 LOOK’N’FEEL

9. Charms
• Search
• Share
• Start
• Devices
• Settings

10. Contracts
• Web of Applications
–Sharing Contract
–Picker Contract
–Search Contract
–More!

11. What is Windows Runtime ?
• OO API for writing Metro style applications
• Written in native C++
• Tuned for performance
• Supports type reflection through metadata
• Supports many languages though
projections
• Part of Windows, build each time OS is
compiled

12. Language Support
• 29 apps in total
• In Dev Preview: C# XAML
5 apps
– 75% JS, C++
DirectX 2
– 17% C#, apps
– 8% C++ JS HTML
22 apps

13. Windows Runtime

14. Is .NET dead ?

15. .NET Framework 4.5
• Preinstalled in Windows 8
• No support for Windows XP

16. WinRT vs Silverlight
• Type comparison
1582
WinRT
4396
SL5
607

17. WinRT vs Silverlight
• Member 4222
comparison
WinRT
SL5
10375
651

18. .NET Metro Profile
• Subset of Client Profile
• No Remoting
• No System.Data
• No System.Web
• No server side WCF
• No private reflection, no Emit
• Some API only in async version

19. DEMO – METRO IN C++

20. What is included in WinRT ?

21. Windows::UI
• Comparable set to
Silverlight
• Lots of new
controls:
– WebView
– MediaElement
– MediaPlayer
– GridView
– FlipView
– ApplicationBar

22. Windows::UI:Input
• Gone
– Mouse events
– Touch events
– Stylus events
• Still There
– Keyboard events
– Manipulation events
• New
– Pointer events
– Tap, DoubleTab, RightTap

23. Windows::UI::Media::Animations::Transition
• Transitions for UIElement, Panel,
ContentControl, and ItemsControl
– Entrance Transition
– Reposition Transition
– Reorder Transition
– AddDelete Transitions
– Content Transitions

24. Windows::Storage::Pickers
• 2 types of pickers:
– File Picker
– Folder Picker
• Your app can show
its content in
either of these
pickers

25. DEMO – METRO IN C#

26. Custom WinRT objects
• Share objects across all languages
• Languages
– C++/CX : speed
– C#/VB : Ease of use
• Restrictions apply
– Sealed classes
– Exposed through an interface
– Public API can only expose WinRT objects

27. DEMO – WINRT OBJECT IN C#

28. Application Execution Environment
Your App
Direct API calls
WinRT
App.exe
APIs OS
Brokered
Broker
API calls
App Container +
Signed & verified code

29. Process state transition
Running Suspending Suspended
App Resuming App
Terminated
App

30. What is not supported ? 
• No { DynamicResource }
• Poor WritableBitmap
• Poor data binding
• No default implementation for
IObservableVector<T>
• 2 manifestations of INPC
• No overlapping windows (no
MessageBox)

31. Common pitfals 
• Code behind namespaces
• XAML namespaces
• DP
Custom controls and styles
•xmlns:views=”using:My.Custom.Views”
• ObservableCollection

32. Getting Windows 8 Dev Prev
• Windows 8 Developer Preview with
developer tools English, 64-bit (x64)
– 4.8 GB – DVD dual layer or pendrive 8GB
– VS 2011 Express
– Blend 5 Preview (Works only with HTML5/CSS)
• Windows 8 Developer Preview English, 64-bit
• Windows 8 Developer Preview English, 32-bit
• Visual Studio 2011 Ultimate Dev Prev

33. Reference
• MSDN Metro Guide:
– http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps
• Building Windows 8 Blog:
– http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/
• BUILD Videos:
– http://www.buildwindows.com/
• WinRT Transitions
– http://bit.ly/vZU4fd
• WinRT vs SL5 comparison
– http://bit.ly/spEtNE

34. Piotr Włodek
 mail: piotr.wlodek@gmail.com
 blog: http://pwlodek.blogspot.com
 twitter: @pwlodek