Microsoft Leaves Windows Phone Devs Wondering
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A recent Microsoft post to Windows Phone Developers leaves more questions than answers for devs looking for direction.
In a post aimed at informing Windows Phone developers about developing on Windows Phone 8, it appears Microsoft has managed to raise more questions and concerns, rather than simply reaching out to developers starved for information.
The post on the Windows Phone Developer Blog by Larry Lieberman, a senior product manager at Microsoft, was meant to shed a little light on the direction and allay developer concerns about the future of the development platform by ensuring them that their existing skills will be usable on the platform of the future, which will be Windows 8-based.
In short, Lieberman said:
"With regard to existing applications: todays Windows Phone applications and games will run on the next major version of Windows Phone. Driving application compatibility is a function of Microsofts commitment to its developers. Regardless of what we release in terms of new developer features and functionality, we have made a large investment in protecting your existing investments.
"Weve also heard some developers express concern about the long-term future of Silverlight for Windows Phone. Please dont panic; XAML and C#/VB.NET development in Windows 8 can be viewed as a direct evolution from todays Silverlight. All of your managed programming skills are transferrable to building applications for Windows 8, and in many cases, much of your code will be transferrable as well. Note that when targeting a tablet vs. a phone, you do of course, need to design user experiences that are appropriately tailored to each device."
Lieberman added, Microsoft is committed to creating an ecosystem that maximizes your investments.
However, that was not enough. The mention of an evolution from Silverlight, Microsofts once popular plug-in for writing and running rich Internet applications seemed to set some developers off.
