Alternatives to Windows Phone 8 Emulator

Question

I have a computer with Windows 8 Enterprise (Evaluation) and an Intel Q8300 CPU (which does not support SLAT as far as I know).

I also own a Samsung ATIV S - Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

I would like to develop Windows Phone 8 app(s) but the emulator won't run on my PC. What are my options? Can I plug the phone via the USB cable and debug the app on it? Or this will also require a developer account (which I hear is 100 US dollars per year)?

Answer 1

Depending on your app, if you can get 99% working on f.e. android, it might be an option to upload a winphone build to the Windows Phone Store and specify its a beta submission. To do this, yes, you need a developer account. But you dont need to unlock your phone.

Add yourself (and other devs) to the beta tester list and submit the app. It will be available in ~1 hour, but it doesnt really appear in the store; you need to install it using a link sent to you by mail.

As for debugging, try Weinre.

Answer 2

You do not need to pay for Windows Phone Developer account. All you need is a computer with Zune software running and a USB cable. The rest is mostly automated.

Answer 3

You have to unlock your phone to debug applications on it, and yes, you need a Windows Phone Developer account to do that. It costs 100$ per year.

MSDN: About deploying and running apps on a Windows Phone device

You have to meet the following prerequisites before you can deploy an app to a Windows Phone device:

• You must be a registered developer. For info about registering as a developer, see Registration info.

• The phone must be registered. For more info, see How to register your phone for development.

And about Dev Account cost: Register for a Dev Center account

An annual Dev Center subscription is $99 USD plus any applicable tax. For that, you’ll get to submit unlimited paid apps to Windows Phone Store. You can also submit up to 100 free apps.