What Windows 10 Means for Developers

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the release of Microsoft’s latest operating system and much of it has justification. Whether you’re new to Windows or have followed each edition over the years, Windows 10 represents a big step in personal computing in a modern world consisting of more than desktop and laptop PCs. For developers, more versions has meant having to target different versions of Windows and also different device types to create the experience that is best suited for the user.

In one word, Windows 10 can be summarized by one word for developers: convergence.

Let’s explore this a bit further…

One Windows. Let’s face it. If you’ve done any Windows development over the years, then you’ve covered a lot of different flavors of Windows and no doubt device-specific functionality. Even with the most well-designed system that has undergone refactoring passes to stand the test of time, you’re sure to end up with lots of conditional compilation directives and libraries that have to be included in different builds.

With Windows 10, developers target one platform: the Universal Windows Platform.

Multiple Devices. The Universal Windows Platform is built on a refactored Windows Core that has one universal hardware driver and handles a standard set of I/O and network capabilities. That’s a single common core to target. There isn’t one for PC, one for tablet runtimes and various flavors for different phones. Just a single API surface is needed and guaranteed to run the same on all devices.

In order to leverage capabilities of different devices – from Mobile to PCs to even HoloLens or Microsoft Band – Windows 10 apps can utilize platform-specific Extension SDKs.

Instead of conditional compilation, developers simply check for the existence of one or more device-specific capabilities and then implement the specific functionality accordingly. These capabilities will be tested at runtime and device-specific features will light up Windows 10 apps for each device.

Adaptive Design. In Modern Web development we’ve become accustomed to responsive design being used to keep layouts flexible for handling different screen sizes. Not only do Windows 10 apps have responsive capabilities, but developers are also able to add smart layouts using Visual States to adjust to larger, more drastic screen size differences.

One Store. Since there is just one platform – the Universal App Platform in Windows 10 – developers only need to focus on deployment to one store: the Windows Store. The Windows Store contains a catalog of content available, including music and video, as well as Xbox games and of course apps. Developers only need to submit once for each device family.

Not only does having one store simplify the submission and distribution of apps, but it makes apps available to one large audience. App developers have the opportunity to reach nearly every person running Windows 10. There is also the ability to limit audiences for things like beta testing as well as app flighting; and a business-specific area allows more select releases for targeted audiences and organizations.

And monetization of apps doesn’t stop with just the store itself, both durable and consumable in-app purchases, as well as ads and video interstitials, all can be added to keep users engaged with fresh content in your app while increasing opportunities for generating revenue.

Of course, while convergence simplifies a lot of development strategy and implementation, it comes with some additional responsibility. Depending on the devices that need to be supported, developers must be sure to appropriately design apps in order to provide the right experience and leverage unique features.

Fortunately, the new 2015 Editions of Visual Studio and Blend support many project types and developer tasks to get the job done. These tools have become indispensable for developers in building multi-platform applications across multiple devices, as well as the cloud.

Ready to get started? Head over to Windows.com and VisualStudio.com and #UpgradeYourWorld.