Bullet Points from Build–Day 1 and my thoughts

I usually do a bullet points from major conference events like this one from Mix11. The purpose of this post is to get you up to speed quickly with news and links you may enjoy.

Build – Day 1 Keynote

• Windows 8 takes about half the amount of RAM to run compared to Windows 7.
• Windows 7 usage by consumers is now greater than Windows XP.
• Like the Metro Interface? Well, you better as the interface is similar to the Windows Phone 7.
• You can unlock your touch-enabled PC by tapping certain spots on a picture. Even using swipe gestures.
• Want to use a keyboard/mouse instead of touch? Well you can, so stop worrying.
• Get used to the word – Charms.
• You can use either XAML/C#/VB/C++/C or HTML/JS/ to write Windows 8 Applications.
• Expression Blend 5 will support HTML and CSS Editing as well as XAML.
• Windows 8 will have better security with things such as Defender and the ability to detect malicious virus at the bootstrapper level.
• Everything is hardware accelerated (uses the power of your GPU).
• WinRT – Stands for Windows Runtime – 1800 Objects in their new API.
• Spellcheck in everything; everywhere.
• The new version of Visual Studio has templates to create metro applications.
• There will be a new Windows Store that will allow you to deploy your application from within Visual Studio 11.
• Microsoft provides guidance on how your app should look.
• Windows Store lets you determine the price/trial period of your app. Includes a certification process.
• Silverlight to Windows 8 looks painless. The demos included one line of code for Windows Phone 7.
• Additional features for Accessibility. (It will increase tiles and so forth)
• Windows 8 boots freakin’ fast. Some pcs were showing Windows 8 as fast as they could open the lid to the machine.
• IE 10 is designed to be used for Windows 8.
• Live DOM in Expression Blend allows Drag-and-Drop of Elements in HTML5.
• Everyone in the audience got a tablet equipped with Windows 8 and tools necessary to build applications.
• Multi-monitor support – think UltraMon but better.
• If your PC has USB 3.0 support – Windows 8 will use it. File copy demo was amazing.
• Windows 8 is not just for play. Several demos showed them using it with a mouse/keyboard combo.
• Windows Live will allow you to connect devices together. Example: browser photos from other PCs.
• ASUS and Toshiba have ultra-thin laptops under 2.5 lbs.

My thoughts on the Keynote:

Let me go ahead and say that I am excited about what I heard today. I am a Silverlight MVP and I also love Silverlight very much. But what I’m really in love with is XAML and C#.  That is NOT going away with developing Windows 8 applications. We can take our existing XAML skills and write Windows 8 applications. This doesn’t mean our existing Silverlight applications won’t run as they will. Nor does it mean that we won’t be creating new Silverlight applications. Silverlight 5 is being released at the end of this year.

The Visual Studio 11 Templates for XAML/C# look very easy to build plus its just a few lines to convert Silverlight application into the Metro Interface (if that’s what you want). The same is true with developing Windows Phone 7 apps. I am also excited that we are getting support for HTML/JS in Blend 5.

I feel that Microsoft got this one right by addressing the tablet device and changing the look and feel of Windows. From the looks of things, developers have a lot to be excited about in the future.

Helpful Links:

Microsoft

Windows 8 Platform Preview will be downloadable tonight around 8PM PST. This comes with the dev tools and either 32 or 64 bit versions. 
Sessions have been announced and you can view after 24 hour after the session.

Others
Todd Anglin’s post on Top 10 Moments from Build Day 1 Keynote
Telerik’s post “Your Investments are Safe with Telerik”
Jeremy Likness post on Windows 8 and Build Day 1 Keynote