CHAPTER 1 THE PHILOSOPHY OF .NET
Figure 1-12. Windows 8 applications are full-screeen, graphically rich desktop applications
Note Building a Windows 8 application requires developers to adhere to an entirely new set of UI design
guidelines, data storage methodologies, and user input options. To be sure, a “Win8” app is much more than a tile
installed on the Windows 8 start screen.
Building Windows 8 Applications
Creating and running a Windows 8 application is only possible on Windows 8 and is not supported
under Windows 7. In fact, if you install Visual Studio on Windows 7 (or earlier), you will not even see
Windows 8 project templates appear in the New Project dialog box.
Programming a Windows 8 application requires developers to tap into an entirely new runtime layer
termed (appropriately enough) Windows Runtime (WinRT). Be very aware that WinRT is not the .NET
CLR, however it does offer some similar services such as garbage collection, support for multiple
programming languages (including C#), and so forth.
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