CODEWITHSUNDEEP
.netwindowsvisual-studio-2010microsoft-metrowindows-runtime
vs2010noob
vs2010noob

Reputation: 213

Developing Applications with Metro UI for Windows XP/7

How do I go on developing applications with the Metro UI so that they work on Windows XP/Vista/7 ?

An example for an application is MetroBackUp.

I'm on Windows 7 and have both Visual Studio 2010 and 11 Beta installed.

Is it compulsory to develop them in Windows 8 CP ? Will they work in other OS ?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 7293

Answers (3)

gyurisc
gyurisc

Reputation: 11502

If you would like to develop metro style apps on Windows 7 then you can use the following libraries:

Upvotes: 8

Filip Skakun
Filip Skakun

Reputation: 31724

If you want to develop a Metro Style App, or an app running on top of the Windows Runtime (WinRT) - the app won't be able to run on versions of Windows older than Windows 8. You can share a lot of the code and possibly large chunks of the UI with a version of your app for older versions of Windows, depending on the stack you choose (DirectX/XAML/C++/C#/VB/HTML5+JS) and how you structure your code.

Another option is to develop an app that is not a "Metro Style App", but is simply styled to follow the Metro design language guidelines. There are libraries for WPF and possibly other frameworks that have styles that mimic the style of the Zune Software etc. The downside is - you will not be able to sell your application in the Windows Store.

If you are planning on using the XAML stack - the MVVM pattern allows to reuse a lot of the code between different platforms (WPF, Silverlight, Windows Phone, WinRT-XAML). MVVM is also possible in the HTML5/JS/WinJS stack with libraries like Knockout JS, so you might be able to develop your app in a way that works on any platform - even non-Windows one, albeit with the need to replace the use of the Windows 8 UI features (edge UI, app bar, charms bar) with alternative solutions.

Upvotes: 1

Tilak
Tilak

Reputation: 30728

Metro apps cannot be developed on OS Windows 7 or less. Metro Apps require WinRT which is in Windows 8 onwards

Important: Metro style app development is supported only on Windows 8 Consumer Preview. You can't develop Metro style apps on Windows 7 or Windows Server 8 Beta.

From the link

Can I develop and debug Metro applications in Win7 with the Visual Studio 11 developer preview?

EDIT

"Metro Style Apps" -> running on Windows Runtime, using Windows 8 UI features (like immersive UI, AppBar, Charm etc).

Metro style apps -> Normal .net apps, having look and feel similar to metro apps. (Example -> MetroBackup

Issue-> Will metro style apps run on Win XP?

They will as long as they do not use any Windows 7 feature (like TaskDialog, JumpList, etc)

Upvotes: 3

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