News - Windows for free, if a device screen is under 9-inches

[iliosis]

So manufactures will save $15 per device. Maybe drop the price by $5?

I believe the price reduction is actually $50 - $15 = $35 to manufacturers.

[crossy]

The main thing is that the MUI app will be running on the desktop, in a window now.

But these two talks give a good quick overview:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-649
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-507

There are two techniques you've got there, one is the new WinJS thing, which I think is going to be for simple, marketing type things. The other the new Common XAML UI! Just when you thought you'd learnt enough XAML UI frameworks (I'm upto 5 now) they bring you yet another!

1000 thanks for those links - don't fancy the C++ route, but if C# is possible then that'd be great with the Mono stuff I'm trying to wrap both my brain cells around. I'm too old to learn C++.

Appreciate the comments on Linux vs Windows for embedded. As you rightly say, there won't be a "single best environment" - which personally I think a good thing as I hate monoculture. Although I still prefer Linux for those "no plan, no budget, no time" projects that invariably drop like a load o' manure on me. (cue the small violins).

[TheAnimus]

I find working with embedded Linux to be almost the opposite of some of my experiences with TinyCLR.

With TinyCLR it just works, code is written, debugged effortlessly, and works absolutely fine... until. I hit some kind of road block, normally this is because of the hardware limitation aswell, but suddenly as a platform, I'm SOL.

Most vendors versions of an embedded linux I've found take me days just to get something basic working, then even longer to get something more complex. However, I've not found myself limited, trapped in a corner so to speak. But, I've not touched it for about 5 years now, too traumatic experience.

But you might like this, a little birdie told me they are giving a few of the new dev boards away: https://www.windowsondevices.com So might be worth signing up (I have!)

They did show how simple it is, how well the remote debugging works etc on build talk, but I can't recall which one it was (I'm too poor to attend this year, so just watching the casts).

Depending on what you are wanting to, and how long you've got, I'd say it might well be worth learning the MS mainstream stuff before Mono, as I found it was much better documented with an inarguably richer tool chain (for most things, but not all use cases!). However this really depends on precisely what your end goal is doing, but one of my spies was telling me that MS is really going all into sexing up their presence in the embedded space, showing that it's not just for the larger components that you should consider windows embedded versions.

The odd thing is the last 18 months has been a bad time for the Windows Phone team, but more of the common OS stuff has been slotted around, and apparently they are back on their two train release cycle (8.1 for phone is late, really late), part of this was due to the embedded area. MS are trying to get a write once, run anywhere thing, that actually works without a lot of the pain java baked solutions had, this includes rich hanhelds (barcode scanners etc) that are managed by the regular windows groupol stuff. That is out now, I know for at least one friends firm it's going to be very helpful to have proper OTA updates, that they can track and review, built in. It's suggested they want to push that kind of IT management down to embedded stuff too. 'Enterprise App Store' down to IOT.

[crossy]

Depending on what you are wanting to, and how long you've got, I'd say it might well be worth learning the MS mainstream stuff before Mono, as I found it was much better documented with an inarguably richer tool chain (for most things, but not all use cases!). However this really depends on precisely what your end goal is doing, but one of my spies was telling me that MS is really going all into sexing up their presence in the embedded space, showing that it's not just for the larger components that you should consider windows embedded versions.

Yep, there's plenty of C# books out there, whereas the Mono ones I've looked at all assume you know C# to a degree. In which case - to me at least - it makes a whole lotta sense to grab "Visual Studio Express for Windows Desktops" and get developing. Unfortunately (?) I'm Windows8-free, so the version of VSE for Phones/Windows8 is a non-starter, and no, I can't afford £500+ for a "proper" version of VS - the missus would gut 'n' quarter me!

As to projects - nothing crazy - I want to do something like the old O2 Joggler. Android would have been a natural first choice, but that means Java... I also could really do with upping my game on Windows generally - there's been a couple of work related projects I've had to "pass" on because I don't "do" Windows dev at the moment - unless you could that Perl-based services hack a year or two ago.

The odd thing is the last 18 months has been a bad time for the Windows Phone team, but more of the common OS stuff has been slotted around, and apparently they are back on their two train release cycle (8.1 for phone is late, really late), part of this was due to the embedded area. MS are trying to get a write once, run anywhere thing, that actually works without a lot of the pain java baked solutions had, this includes rich hanhelds (barcode scanners etc) that are managed by the regular windows groupol stuff.

Again yes, love Android, hate Java.

Sage advice (as always).