

Microsoft's new pitch: 'Every .Net developer is a Windows Phone developer' - bensummers
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=5316

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vyrotek
I hope the overall experience is better than current .Net development for
Windows Mobile. I'm not a huge fan of XAML/Silverlight, but I can understand
why they chose that for their mobile platform. XNA is going to be a huge hit
too!

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bmj
Yes, WinMob 6 development, at least with the Compact Framework, is not a
pleasant experience.

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megamark16
And every Java developer is an Android developer. Is Microsoft planning on
opening a Windows Phone App Store? I'd be interested to see what that looks
like.

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kogir
No, not really. If WinMo 7 has full silverlight or wpf xaml support, the same
code you run on the phone can run on the desktop as well (native or in the
browser). Not so with Android. Think more like JavaFX, but on devices that'll
actually ship.

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j_b_f
That was already true for what they're now calling "Windows Phone Classic."

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yardie
I guess this means be prepared for a ton of applications that are buggy,
memory and CPU hogs. I'm a C# developer and developing for the iPhone has made
me a much better developer in general. Things you don't have to worry about in
.NET, like memory and thread management, are all in vogue now because Apple
forces you to pay attention to them. And the compiler does a great job of
letting you know that your application is as leaky as 100 year old plumbing.

Now the only question I have is will they take a cue from Apple and include
free WM7 development tools in VS Express, or do you have to pony up $800 for
the privilege?

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akshat
I agree that programming in lower language like C (and Objective C to some
extent) makes you a better programmer, since you are figuring out the nuts and
bolts of a computer.

But the other part about only C# programs being CPU/memory hogs is all wrong.
Though I have not coded in C#, I do know that a bad programmer can have memory
leaks all over a C/Objective C program. Similarly a good C# programmer would
write a robust program.

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towndrunk
I take it you are not familiar with "Build and Analyze" in XCode.

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slackerIII
So you could write a mobile app in F#? Neat.

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Quarrelsome
No. Most desktop developers don't get PowerManagement. Unless they've managed
to abstract all of this away now? :D

I'm interested to know how much of a change this is, is this a new skin or
REALLY a brand new operating system? Can I finally send sync on a socket AND
use a timeout? ;)

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endtime
>I'm interested to know how much of a change this is, is this a new skin or
REALLY a brand new operating system?

It's a brand new operating system. You might want to look up one of the
articles about it that came out a few days ago.

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Quarrelsome
Yea but there wasn't much tech there, only "it is a new OS" which can be
interpreted differently if you're talking to techies or consumers, for
example.

Only thing they've shown (afaik) is a new UI. What is underneath?

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endtime
It's a ground-up rewrite .

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RickProspect
What phones use the windows mobile os? Everyone I know is on an android,
iphone, blackberry, or an old school phone. I've never seen a phone using
windows.

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bad_user
Considering that a majority of HTC phones (the champion of Android) are WinMo,
and you can also find (recent) WinMo phones from Samsung, LG, Acer and
Motorola ... your assertion is out of sync with reality.

Historically yes, WinMo phones suck ... one of my uncles (who's a truck driver
... i.e. a normal person ... has one) and I hated it from the first second I
touched it, but he's happy with it. And I once owned an HP iPaq, which was a
lot more useful than an iPhone.

I wouldn't underestimate the power of Microsoft, or the number of .NET
developers who would want to go mobile if WinMo 7 is a success. They only need
focus, and sometimes they can pull it off.

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RickProspect
The assertion is definitely not out of sync with reality. I literally don't
know a single person with a windows mobile phone. I'm not trashing WinMo...

I'm a .Net developer myself and my first thought was "what kind of app can I
make." My second thought was why write an app when I've never seen a windows
mobile phone.

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dennis_groves
sweet, now we can have botnets and trojans on our phones!

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thejay
No Thanks.

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pibefision
developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers...

