

Microsoft hints that Windows 8 will run Windows Phone 7 apps - colluphid42
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/122289-microsoft-hints-that-windows-8-will-run-windows-phone-7-apps

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cahrens
What I see that could happen is that you carry around a multiple form-factor
device, e.g. alone it is just a phone, but plug it into a special screen and
its a tablet. Attach it to a screen with a physical keyboard and it'd work as
a laptop, plug it into a bigger base station type thing and it works as a low-
powered desktop.

Each of the larger devices it could plug into could have their own processors,
RAM, batteries, etc and connect to a Bus port (like laptops have for docking
stations) on the phone and take control of its storage and peripherals.

I was thinking a scenario where a user would use it in 'phone mode' while
walking around, 'tablet mode' while on the train or bus, 'laptop mode' at the
coffee shop and then use it as a desktop when they get to work. The whole time
working on the same document, emails, video conference, whatever, completely
seamlessly (well, maybe a small break when switching what its plugged into).
Of course to use it in other modes, you would have to carry along those
devices. There is also the issue of applications not be suited for a smaller
device, but you could hand off to a different version of itself, save its
state and go into a sleep mode, or transfer processing to a server/cloud
system.

If done right, you could have a very wide variety of devices with different
sized screens and different features to cater to different audiences while
keeping the same UI.

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r00fus
This makes a lot of sense - imagine if (certain) iPhone apps could be run as
widgets on the OSX Dashboard (IIRC, widgets were the proving ground for phone
apps)...

The issue this raises is one of prerequisites... are things like
accelerometers supported on all Win8 machines? What about cameras?

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upthedale
The prerequisites could be handled in the same way that WP7 handles them
already, by warning the user at install time in the store.

For example, some apps require a gyroscope, which I think handsets only came
out with in the second generation. If you try to install one of these apps in
the store, you'll be warned that some functionality won't work (or perhaps
won't work at all - I haven't seen this). Similarly, I've seen reports that in
the upcoming update aimed at lower end handsets, there'll be warnings in the
store for the few apps that don't work with limited ram requirements.

I would predict Windows 8 will keep a similar list of the device's
capabilities and warn the user in the store if they try to buy something that
won't work.

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assemble
It just warns you and says that "same application featurews may not be
supported" or something like that. TouchDevelop and some of the Compass apps
do this.

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upthedale
That's what I was saying. Its still possible to use TouchDevelop and compass
apps without the gyroscope, hence why it is only a warning.

I was wondering though if there are any apps (or if developers have the option
to set this) where an optional device feature such as the gyro is so integral
to the app that it won't even install without the device capability. This is
what I haven't seen yet - though maybe the marketplace is already filtering
them out for me.

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eatporktoo
I think that this will be a good move for them provided they can implement it
correctly. I think this would only work for machines with multitouch displays.

~~~
freehunter
There are quite a few Windows Phone apps that don't need multitouch (or
necessarily touch at all). Of course, it would be jarring to use a mobile
version of most apps on a larger screen, just like it is with other phones-
turned-tablets, but I would imagine the most popular apps would be re-released
with new graphics to support multiple resolutions (as they have been on other
phone-turned-tablets).

~~~
brudgers
If Microsoft takes the same approach to displaying WP7 apps under Windows 8
that it takes to displaying them in the emulator for the development tools,
resizing for different screen resolutions won't be critical.

The emulator uses the same resolution as a native phone (800x480 typical)
which is quite legible on a larger screen due to the lower density of pixels
on the larger display.

Apps running in the emulator are perhaps a bit oversized, but not untenably
so.

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upthedale
I wonder if its possible to wrap an Android emulator in the Metro shell.

Would make buying an Android tablet pretty pointless.

~~~
lars
It probably is, but trust me, you wouldn't want to use it. Because it does
hardware level emulation, the Android emulator is unbelievably slow. Way too
slow for normal use.

Edited to add: There have been efforts to build android _simulators_ , i.e.
compile android for x86 and don't do hardware level emulation. This is how
iPhone and WP7 testing is done already, and would run perfectly fast enough.

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gnaffle
Maybe some kind of virtualization would work for ARM-based Win8 tablets?

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megaman821
Couldn't it also hint that Windows Phone 8 will have the same core as Windows
8?

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freehunter
I believe this has already been "confirmed" by Paul Thurrot, Windows Phone 8
will use the NT kernel instead of the CE kernel.

[http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-
phone-8...](http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-
phone-8-preview-142154)

[http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/02/leaked-
windows...](http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/02/leaked-windows-
phone-8-vid-windows-8-kernel-and-integration-multiple-cores.ars)

