August the 1st marked a important day for academic institutions wishing to use/teach Windows 8 in the next academic session.

Windows 8 reached Release to Manufacturing, Windows 8 is now being issued to all PC OEM and manufacturing partners.

More details http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/08/01/releasing-windows-8-august-1-2012.aspx

• August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions and DreamSpark Premium for institutional administrators
• August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions.
• August 16th: Education institutions with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.
• August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.
• August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8.
• August 25th - 31st: Students will be able to download these via DreamSpark Premium institutional ELMS stores
• September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 8 through Microsoft Volume License Resellers and Academic License Resellers.

So over the next few days/weeks you will see the availability of exciting new models of PCs loaded with Windows 8 and online availability of Windows 8 on October 26, 2012.

More details http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-has-reached-the-rtm-milestone.aspx

Developers can visit the Windows Dev Center to get access to all the tools and resources they need to design, build, and sell apps in the Windows Store. While all apps during the preview phases were free, at RTM developers can begin charging for apps, so those with access to RTM bits will begin to see paid apps appear in the Windows Store.

Also, Windows Server 2012 has been released to manufacturing.

On September 4.  That’s when Windows Server 2012 will be generally available for evaluation and download by all customers around the world.  On that day we will also host an online launch event where our executives, engineers, customers and partners will share more about how Windows Server 2012 can help organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of what we call the Cloud OS.  You will be able to learn more about the features and capabilities and connect with experts and peers.  You’ll also be able to collect points along the way for the chance to win some amazing prizes. You don’t want to miss it.  Visit this site to save the date for the launch event.

More details http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/01/windows-server-2012-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Due to the number of comments I have had on this post, I just wanted to confirm what products will be available under DreamSpark for students.

MSDN Subscriber Downloads: August 15^th, 2012

Visual Studio 2012 and Windows 8 are available as of, August 15^th, on MSDN Subscriber Downloads to DreamSpark Subscribers.

To confirm DreamSpark Premium Subscription Program Administrators may follow these steps to get immediate access to the software:

1) Visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/downloads

2) Sign in with the Windows Live ID associated with their DreamSpark Subscription

3) Search for the product of choice and click on “Download”

4) To acquire product keys the administrator may click on “Product Keys” and “Get Key” for applicable SKUs.

a. Note: Not all Visual Studio 2012 SKUs require a product key.

5) The file will be downloaded in .iso format.

a. Click here for instructions on how to use .iso files.

DreamSpark.com and ELMS WebStore: August 25^th, 2012 for student downloads

Please see the SKU Availability Matrix below for specifics on which products will be available on DreamSpark.com, and through DreamSprk Premium ELMS Institutional WebStores.  The SKUs highlighted in red will be available starting August 25^th, with the remaining releasing in a week thereafter, To confirm, Windows desktop operating systems are only available to students at education institutions which have purchased a DreamSpark premium subscription for STEM based disciplines .

Note: these SKUs will be available in the following languages on the 25^th, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese-Brazil, Russian, Chinese Simplified, and Chinese Traditional, with rolling releases of additional languages following on a week after:  

For Visual Studio SKUs a separate Portuguese-Brazil language pack will be required, and will also be available on the 25^th.

Product SKU Availability Matrix

Over the past few days I have had a few questions re how does a University go about installing Enterprise apps onto Windows 8 machines without having to setup Microsoft LiveIDs on each of the machines,

As your all aware from the Consumer preview, applications are installed via the Microsoft Store, authentication to the store is based upon your Microsoft LiveID. As a consumer you simply click on the store icon and use the Windows 8 Store to get an application onto Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

However if you are an Enterprise looking to get Metro applications onto your employees/students or lab Windows 8 desktops then you will likely want to do it more directly.

Which is where “sideloading” fits in.

Microsoft Technet has detailed documentation on Windows 8 Sideloading to add and remove line-of-business (LOB) Metro style apps

In brief:

• App must be cryptographically signed
• App can only be installed on a computer that trusts the signing certificate
• Group Policy must have the Allow all trusted applications to install setting.
• Computer must be domain joined to run the app (not needed for install)

At which point installing an app is as simple as

add-appxpackage C:\app1.appx

Additionally you can also remove apps via this process

Remove-appxpackage C:\app1.apx

More details on the Windows Store can be found here

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsstore/

And Building Windows 8 blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/

Last week I  attend a number of events, which involved discussions in relation to using Windows 8 with a Keyboard and mouse. I mentioned the fact that Microsoft had introduced a suite of keyboard shortcuts to help you manage its classic and metro interfaces.

So here is the list of Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts

   
• http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2012/03/08/getting-around-in-windows-8.aspx

For more details on Windows 8 see.

Developing Apps for Windows 8

Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Building Windows 8 Blog

Windows Store Blog

So its now the summer holidays, well its the perfect time to get skilled up for Windows 8, to do this you will need to be fully prepared. To confirm RTM of Windows 8 has been confirmed for August and General Release for Oct 2012.

So to help you get prepared we have created a 6 week plan for you.The plan is based on a minimum of 10 hours study time per week. The better prepared you are the better you will do with implementing Windows 8 within your curricula or even simply having the discussion with students using Windows 8 next term.

From a Microsoft perspective we have a massive amount of materials to help you prepare and create a very comprehensive application and we provide you with the suite of Tools and Documentation to help you create their very first Metro 8 App.

Additionally we have also made available a large array of Samples, Examples and Templates as well as Video tutorials and blogs. If you follow these you will find the path to releasing your first game or application for Windows 8.

Apps can be written in C#, C++, HTML or even using a new bespoke tool aimed at Designers. The most import thing is to start right now, read and work your way through the plan, install Windows 8 and the Metro SDK and start developing.

So here is the six week plan for Windows 8 development.

Week One

1. Introduction

a. What is a Windows 8 Metro App, click Here

b. A great intro Blog for you, click Here

c. Understand the UX Guidelines click Here

2. Getting started with Metro style apps, click Here

a. Installing Windows 8

b. Download and install SDK & Dev Tools

3. Get the Developer Licence, Click Here

a. Install the" Windows 8 camp in a box", click Here

b. Quickly get an overview of all the presentations

4. Choose your preferred Development environment/Language

a. JavaScript and HTML (recommended for Designers & Artists)

b. Download relevant documentation, click Here

c. C#, Visual Basic and XAML (recommended for Designers & Artists)

d Download relevant documentation, click Here

e. C++ and DirectX (recommended for Programmers or teams with Programmers in)

f. Download relevant documentation, click Here

5. Understanding What makes a great Metro app, click Here

6. Planning your first App, click Here

a. Planning for Monetisation, click Here

b. Planning for Quality and Certification, click Here

c. Planning for different devices, click Here

d. Plan for a Global Market, click Here

e. Plan for Usability, click Here and Here

Week Two

1. Review available Templates and sample Apps, click Here and Here

2. Take a look at the Samples and Examples in the Windows 8 Camp in a box

a. Work through these Examples

3. Take a look at the Windows 8 Faculty game examples, click Here

a. Consider how you could use these examples to create your own game

4. Download Designer PSD’s, click Here

5. Play, with your chosen development

a. Set up Visual Studios

b. Work through a simple “Hello World”, style tutorial

c. C++, click Here

d. HTML5/Javascript, click Here

e. Visual Basic, click Here

f. C#, click Here

f. Get your development processed organised and ready to go

6. Plan and design your first simple app,

7. Create it

Week 3

1. Re-review progress so far, and create second more complicated app

2. Further reading on what makes a great Metro App, click Here

3. Looking at ways to speed up your development, click Here

4. Using Blend, click Here and Here

5. Continue with your chosen Development training

a. C++, click Here

b. HTML5/Javascript, click Here

c. Visual Basic, click Here

d. C#, click Here

Week 4

1. Continue with your detailed studies and tutorials

2. Watch as many YouTube Tutorials and App sample videos as you can

3. Advanced considerations, click Here

a. Selling apps

b. Concepts and architecture

c. API reference

d. End-to-end apps.

Week 5

1. Continue with your detailed studies and tutorials

2. Planning for the Assessments or Developing Games

a. Some Great Game building Links, click Here

b. How to Design a great Metro 8 Game, click Here

c. More Game / Entertainment considerations, click Here

Week 6

1. Continue with your detailed studies and tutorials

2. Finally, understand about Metro 8 App Publishing, click Here

a. Market Opportunity

b. Designed for discovery

c. Flexible business models

d. Uber-transparency

e. Best economics

Some Great Links

Microsoft's official Metro 8 App site

Microsoft's UK Student and Faculty resources 

A complete list of resources for METRO Windows 8 Developers

Microsoft's App Publishing – Declaring capabilities

· Manifest Designer

· How to specify capabilities in a package manifest.

Intro to Window 8 & the App store

One on One style tutorial Webcasts on Metro 8 development

BUILD Conference Resources  

Designing for Windows

UX GuideLines

Windows User Experience Training

Windows Camp Resources

Additional Videos

Windows 8–Developer Resources

Developer downloads

Metro style app developer content

Blogs for developers

One of the questions I have had this week, is from Mobile development course leaders, how they can teach, Windows Phone, iOS and Android in the same lab? 

For the first time ever, you can write native iOS apps in Visual Studio using C#.

So I know a number of academics love  Resharper, Team Foundation Server, and the entire Visual Studio ecosystem, so hopefully the following information will make your life is now complete.

Another key aspect of mobile development is code portability simply put the Sharing code between iOS, Android and Windows and with the Xamarin iOS plug this has just got a whole lot easier.

Xamarin iOS for Visual Studio allows iOS applications to be written and tested on Windows computers, with a networked Mac providing the build and deployment service.

This article covers the steps to install and configure the Xamarin iOS tools on each computer, in order to build iOS applications using Visual Studio.

Developing for iOS inside Visual Studio provides a number of benefits:

• Creation of a single cross platform solution for iOS, Android and Windows applications.
• Using Visual Studio tools (such as Resharper and Team Foundation Server) for all your cross-platform projects, including iOS source code.
• Using the familiar (for existing Visual Studio developers) code editor, keyboard shortcuts, etc.

Xamarin.iOS for Visual Studio supports configurations where Visual Studio is running inside a Windows virtual machine on a Mac (eg. using Parallels or VMWare).

Watch the following video for more information

Exam 70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):

counts as credit toward the following certification(s):

• MCSD: Web Applications
• MCSD: Windows Store Apps using HTML5

Use code : HTMLJMP for a free exam credit, the exam will normally cost £99.

After passing 70-480, you will be given a certification for Microsoft Specialist and this is one of the three exams which will ultimately certify you as MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer).

MCSD is one tier above MCSA (Associate) and is a respectable title in the field of web development.

Exam registration: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-480
Link for free online training: https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/developing-html5-apps-jump-start?o=1943
Link to MCSD page: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcsd.aspx

This offer is available for a limited time only until March 2013 and is open to IT Academy members also so all students undertaking a course can sit a free exam at  any prometric testing centre.

I have a had a number of questions last week, from some of the UK’s University Gaming Students and Academics re Windows 8.

Over the past few weeks as part of my UK  tour with Aardvark Swift recruitment, I have been highlighting the opportunity of students building portfolio’s and publishing apps on Windows 8 Store to demonstrate their abilities to help them gain employment see the PowerPoint deck below.

For more resources on Windows 8 development see http://www.ubelly.com/gaming

If your interested in attending a free Windows 8 developer camp see http://www.microsoft.com/uk/msdn/windows8

Game/App prototyping

One of the questions, I was asked last week was how can student use tools to develop prototypes and proof of concepts for academic activities, I wanted to share with you the following templates for PowerPoint. Using these templates, you can quickly put together a Windows 8 app layout and iterate on it. All elements in the set are based upon regular PowerPoint vector shapes, and are fully editable and customizable.

As anyone who has seen one of my presentations, PowerPoint is a really great rapid prototyping tool its slide-by-slide approach allows you to present a flow and tell a story with your designs. You can even create basic clickable prototypes by adding hyperlinks between slides. Furthermore, PowerPoint is available on almost every computer, including the new Windows Surface devices that run Windows RT, and is fairly simple to get started with.

Download the Templates For Free!

The wireframing set is available as a .pptx file (for PowerPoint 2007 or newer) that you can download using the link below:

• Download Windows 8 Wireframing Set for PowerPoint (.pptx, 0.5 mb)

It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.  You can therefore use it any way you want, private or commercial, just as long as you distribute the resulting work under the same license and give proper credit to the original creators:

• The wireframing set has been compiled by Andreas Wulf, www.powermockup.com
• The included icons are based on the “Modern UI Icons” collection by Austin Andrews, www.modernuiicons.com

What’s Included?

Example grid page displaying item previews arranged in groups.

Example page displaying details for a single group with previews for each item in the group.

Example page displaying one item in detail.

Example page displaying a list of items and the details for the selected item.

Example of a Metro app in snapped view state.

Example of an app in fill view state.

Collection of common UI controls (part 1): button, text box, list box, check box, radio button, toggle switch, etc.

Collection of common UI controls (part 2): search box, date/time picker, slider, progress bar, scrollbar, etc.

Grid view (with groups).

List view and charms bar.

App header, app bar, and toast.

Message dialog.

Text styles.

240 app icons (part 1).

240 app icons (part 2).

Touch gestures.

What about using tools such as PowerMockup

While you can build great prototypes with FREE tools and PowerPoint, you may find yourself wanting the templates to be in a format that is easier to search through.

In this case, I can highly recommend taking a look at PowerMockup, an add-on for PowerPoint.

PowerMockup provides a searchable library of wireframe elements that can easily be dragged and dropped onto a slide. Best of all, the tool allows you to add your own creations to the library and share them with others.

Andreas Wulf, www.powermockup.com has created these FREE additions

• Download “Windows 8 Controls” (.pmst, 0.4 mb)
• Download “Windows 8 Icons” (.pmst, 2.0 mb)
• Download “Windows 8 Touch Gestures” (.pmst, 0.1 mb)

After downloading the files, switch to the “PowerMockup” tab in the PowerPoint Ribbon bar, click on “Import Files”, and select the downloaded .pmst files. Here is a screenshot of how it will look like after you have imported the templates:

All elements, including the icons, are properly named and tagged, making them easily searchable.

I hope you enjoy the set!

Source: http://designmodo.com/windows-8-wireframe/#ixzz2DGKTR0dv

For those who have been asked about running Windows 8 Consumer Preview on the retail version of Nike-Tab (sold as the Series 7 Slate)… please note that has Samsung created a new webpage to assist users with the install + drivers which can be found here: http://www.samsung.com/global/windowspreview/

Next week I will be at the Develop Conference, attending some of the 103 sessions, 5 keynotes, and on the Microsoft stand at the Expo. I’m looking forward to networking with the 1500 developers and 450 companies during the event and discussing the opportunity of developing Windows 8 Metro Style games.

On http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh452780.aspx we list options for developing Windows 8 games.

At present there are over 50 games available in the store using the above technologies, here are some good links to get started

· Metro style app using JavaScript. You can use the established web technologies: HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to develop full-screen, chrome-free games.

http://bit.ly/metroGamesJS

· Metro style app using C++, C#, or Visual Basic and XAML. You can use managed code languages like C# and Visual Basic to develop 2D (and lightweight 3D) games. If you have developed in Silverlight for Internet Explorer or Windows Phone 7, this model will feel very familiar.

http://bit.ly/metroGames

· Metro style C++ with DirectX. You can develop both 2D and 3D games that effectively use the graphics processing horsepower on a range of Windows desktops and 3D-enabled Windows devices, from high powered gaming rigs to low power slates. It requires a strong working knowledge of Windows programming and native C/C++.

http://bit.ly/metroGamesDX

Tutorials

C++/Direct3D

There are a number of online tutorial around Marble Maze which is a DirectX game written in C++. This leads you to the more basic “Hello World” example over here although while the results of that example are “Hello World” in nature.

There’s another, more realistic sample over here with a walk-through to build up a Metro style shooting game. It takes the form of a completed code sample and a walk through of what’s going on in that sample.

It runs to around 40 source files.

The key learning outcome for starting to build games for Metro are as follows as these would make excellent starting points for curricula development for Developing Metro Style Games.

1) Understanding how a Metro style app gets on the screen – i.e. the infrastructure around IFrameworkViewSource and IFrameworkView.

2) Understanding C++/CX which is a bunch of C++ extensions relatively familiar to people like me who’ve come from the C++/CLI world but a bit odd to a regular C++ developer.

3) Understanding some of the technologies used like the Parallel Patterns Library (PPL) which our default templates throw at you.

4) Understanding some of the C++ 11 techniques like lambdas which our default templates also throw at you.

5) Understanding how a Metro style app is meant to work from the point of view of lifecycle management (i.e. suspend/resume/terminate).

6) Understanding the WinRT APIs available and their main usage and purpose.

Steps 5 & 6 are common to any Windows 8 Metro style app developer.

JavaScript

There is a JavaScript tutorial but the game involved is very, very basic.

Frameworks

As we are all aware, there are many game engines /frameworks (middleware) available. Some of these are already supporting development for Win 8 metro games whilst others are planning to support it within the coming months. I have listed the ones which are or have short terms plans to support W8 metro apps. I am sure that there will be more to come…

Unity

http://unity3d.com/

A full games development tool/suite – physics, rendering, scripting, AI etc.

Windows 8 Metro support:                         coming soon (for GA)

Dev languages:                                                 (game scripting) C#, Javascript

MonoGame

http://monogame.codeplex.com/

An Open Source, OpenGL implementation of the Microsoft XNA 4 Framework

Windows 8 Metro support:                         coming soon (‘later this year’)

Dev languages:                                                 C#/XNA

SharpDX

http://sharpdx.org/

SharpDX is an open-source project delivering the full DirectX API under the .Net platform, allowing the development of high performance game, 2D and 3D graphics rendering as well as realtime sound application.

Windows 8 Metro support:                         Now

Dev languages:                                                 C#