What Microsoft Can do to Win over Developers Microsoft has already taken some big steps in the right direction here. At last week’s BUILD conference they gave developers free goodies like the Surface RT, 100GB of cloud storage, a free Lumia 920 and a discounted developer’s registration to Windows Store. What else are they doing right? While iOS and Android pay 70 percent of the money from their apps back to the developers, Microsoft is matching that but offering even more to those that have apps that perform well. If an app earns over $25,000 it will go up to 80 percent profit on store sells. Windows 8 already has a ton of developers for its desktop side of operations, but that won’t do. The Microsoft Store needs to grow if Surface and other Windows 8 tablets are going to be successful. Offering goodies and more money are attractive points for developers, but what about making a platform that is EASY to develop for? That certainly goes a long way. Luckily, Microsoft seems to be getting this one right as well. With Windows 8 apps you can use a variety of programming languages including C++, Visual basic, C#, HTML, Javascript and CSS. In contrast, iOS only allows Objective C and Android is locked to Java. Flexibility in language choice means that developers don’t have to learn anything new– they can use the program knowledge they already have. This is certainly a positive for smaller companies that can train or hire tons of new help just to conform to whatever language a mobile OS is enforcing.
Unity with Windows could be a major incentive
Another monumental change in Windows 8 is the unity we are seeing with Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Both are based on the NT core and apps that are developed for one platform can be converted with relative ease. This unification of code still requires a bit of optimizing when making an app for both platforms, but it is still an important and appealing part of Windows 8. It is also more than likely that sometime in the future the Xbox will get an AppStore of its own– probably with the next Xbox. You can bet that this store will likely allow easy porting of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps as well. Many app developers might not be jumping in right away with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, but the appeal is certainly there. As the user base grows, we can expect to see many more app developers join in to the world of Windows 8 and RT. Are you a developer? If so, are you considering Windows 8 as a development platform? If so, what about the new OS appeals to you the most? [source]]]>
That’s a very big incentive for app developers. Would be interesting to see if this step kick-starts a head to head competition to the Playstore and iTunes.
When’s the app-store for Xbox getting launched? Can’t wait for that.
Can’t wait to get Instagram on the new OS. I hope they have started developing it.
C++ is far superior than Java.