Windows Phone 8 to Accelerate Apps Availability Manifold
With the Shared Windows Core that is prevalent in Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8, it's a lot easier to share code from one platform to another, thus accelerating app availability across devices. Microsoft's senior product managers further confirm this at TechEd Europe 2012.
During the Windows Phone 8 Summit last week, one of the milestones that Microsoft iterated was the availability of over 100,000 apps for its mobile platform. While it doesn’t say much yet about the operating system’s pervasiveness yet, that’s probability going to change next year in 2013.
As we also shared in our feature last week, its common Windows kernel plays a critical part in the whole equation. Microsoft broadly terms it the Shared Windows Core which is prevalent in Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8. These operating systems span the entire computing gamut from desktops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones.
With the Shared Windows Core, it makes it a lot easier to share code from one platform to another. For example, developers who used to spend time to test compatibility will now have a lot more time freed up to pursue creating a good app usage experience. If you recall, the driver addressing module along with other basics like networking, media handling and more are part of the Shared Windows Core across the various operating systems.
As such, it doesn’t take much effort to re-compile a particular app for each specific platform. This is why Microsoft is confident that the quantity of it apps available in its ecosystem is only going to accelerate sharply with the availability of Windows Phone 8 as we learned from Augusto Valdez, Senior Product Manager for Windows Phone, Microsoft.
Together with its Metro UI propagating a seamless usage experience across various operating systems and screen types, it will indirectly compel users to pick up the Windows platform eventually for a tighter integration - or at least that’s the unofficial plan from our understanding.
As of this point of time, Microsoft has been mum about the full feature set and expectations of the upcoming Windows Phone 8 OS, but we do hope there’s much more to what we’ve heard to-date.
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