Windows 10 Announcements

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/29/microsoft-announces-continuum-turning-windows-10-phones-into-desktops/#.xrcgqc:xURY




Microsoft just demonstrated one of the intriguing possibilities that emerge from its single platform/multiple form factors approach for Windows 10: the ability to use your phone as your desktop computer.
In contrast to Apple's "Continuity," which aims to make moving between phone, tablet, and desktop seamless, Microsoft's Continuum instead has the phone you're using adapt its interface depending on the context you're using it.

In an on-stage demo, Microsoft's Legend Belfiore connected a phone to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and instantly the UI he was using adapted to the new inputs and outputs. While the operating system interface we saw on screen didn't look exactly like Windows 10 on a laptop or desktop computer, the applications shown (especially PowerPoint) did. Instead of making minor adjustments to a presentation using a 5-inch screen, you can simply connect to an HDMI-compatible monitor and have all the space and tools you would on a full PC.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/04/29/developers-can-reuse-their-android-code-to-bring-their-apps-to-windows-10/

The company will use Android app support to make it easier for developers to port across their existing applications built in Java and C++ with very little effort.
Windows Phones will include a Android subsystem that can run the majority of existing code from an Android app. Developers can use Windows APIs along with their existing code to get live tiles and other features working.
Microsoft also announced that it'll make it simple for Objective C developers to port their iOS code to the Windows platform.
icrosoft-announces-continuum-turning-windows-10-phones-into-desktops/#.xrcgqc:xURY

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Bringing over ios and andriod app will help, but i still don't think MS gets it. If i'm in a position to hook up my phone as a pc, it's probable that i already have a desktop or laptop to use.

It's still going to take a whole lot more for me to leave android.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

HoloLens will get games from one of the world's best game engines
Unity is woking with Microsoft to add HoloLens support

HoloLens has the potential to become an amazing platform for gaming, and Microsoft is announcing a key partnership today to help that happen. It's working with Unity Technologies to bring HoloLens support to the Unity game engine. That means that developers will be able to work with a capable and popular engine while creating games for the upcoming augmented-reality headset. Unity sells itself as more than a game engine — and certainly, it can be used for more — but it's best known as the engine that sits behind popular titles like Hearthstone, Deus Ex: The Fall, and Hitman Go.

Unity's strategic technology VP, Steffen Toksvig, suggests that it expects to see the engine used for more than just games in a statement commenting on the partnership. HoloLens, he says, will allow developers to reimagine everything from social networks to remote health care. "Our work will ensure a seamless and efficient development experience that takes full advantage of the unique features and capabilities of Microsoft HoloLens," he says. Unity was already working with Microsoft to integrate its engine into Visual Studio, making this a pretty natural extension of the partnership.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8516613/unity-game-engine-hololens-support

[Legend]

Bringing over ios and andriod app will help, but i still don't think MS gets it. If i'm in a position to hook up my phone as a pc, it's probable that i already have a desktop or laptop to use.

It's still going to take a whole lot more for me to leave android.

If they made a docking station type thing and it ran full windows apps then I could see some use for it. People could only buy the phone and not need a computer/laptop. Save some bucks for the uber cheap tech consumers. As is though, it only makes phone experiences nicer. I think they tried to capture the surface market of tablet+laptop, but failed badly.

HoloLens will get games from one of the world's best game engines
Unity is woking with Microsoft to add HoloLens support

HoloLens has the potential to become an amazing platform for gaming, and Microsoft is announcing a key partnership today to help that happen. It's working with Unity Technologies to bring HoloLens support to the Unity game engine. That means that developers will be able to work with a capable and popular engine while creating games for the upcoming augmented-reality headset. Unity sells itself as more than a game engine — and certainly, it can be used for more — but it's best known as the engine that sits behind popular titles like Hearthstone, Deus Ex: The Fall, and Hitman Go.

Unity's strategic technology VP, Steffen Toksvig, suggests that it expects to see the engine used for more than just games in a statement commenting on the partnership. HoloLens, he says, will allow developers to reimagine everything from social networks to remote health care. "Our work will ensure a seamless and efficient development experience that takes full advantage of the unique features and capabilities of Microsoft HoloLens," he says. Unity was already working with Microsoft to integrate its engine into Visual Studio, making this a pretty natural extension of the partnership.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8516613/unity-game-engine-hololens-support

Nice to see unity support.

[kitler53]

do not want.

[darkknightkryta]

Bringing over ios and andriod app will help, but i still don't think MS gets it. If i'm in a position to hook up my phone as a pc, it's probable that i already have a desktop or laptop to use.

It's still going to take a whole lot more for me to leave android.

They obviously didn't look at RIM. Luckily for MS, it's impossible for them to lose money.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

They obviously didn't look at RIM. Luckily for MS, it's impossible for them to lose money.

RIM?

[Legend]

RIM?

Return Investment MineCraft or something like that.

[darkknightkryta]

Return Investment MineCraft or something like that.

Research in Motion. They made the Blackberry phone and garbage OS.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Microsoft Explains How Universal Windows Platform Affects Xbox One and More; All New API Will Be Universal



During a livestreamed Q&A from Build 2015, Microsoft Universal Windows Platform Program Managers Brent Rector and Peter Torr explained how the new policies will affect supported devices, including the Xbox One.

Previously, Windows 8 and 8.1 had a series of API available to them. Then there was Windows Phone, and it had its own API. Xbox had its own set of API as well. What Microsoft wanted to do is bringing the best of those API together and then expand it with more capabilities based on customer feedback with the Universal Windows Platform.

The default policy going forward is that all new API are part of the Universal Platform, which means that every new API that will be released from now on will work on all three platforms.

There are some subtleties to that, and an example that was brought up was the API for a scanner. It wouldn't make a lot of sense on the Xbox One. The API will still be there, but it will detect that there's no scanner connected and simply remain dormant.

This means that developers won't have to write different code, at least to the extent to which Microsoft can "humanly make it universal." It's "truly a single code base"

Of course there might still be differences between devices for what concerns the UI. While the code base is the same, if you're projecting your app on a ten foot screen or on HoloLens, you probably want a different UI. That is a choice left to developers, but different UI can coexist in the same app, with the same code.

That said, the "One core platform" is the same for all devices, including Xbox, Windows, phones and even servers.

Building game engines for universal apps will be "relatively easy." Developers will pick their language, manage the code, they'll write to the universal API set, and that way they'll have a library that any universal app can use. It will be a lot easier than before.

Additionally, and this is something very useful for games, Windows 10 will bring back thread affinity with a way to allocate workloads to various threads. This will work on devices with cooling fans, like a PC, while on phones, that don't have a fan so they might overheat, workloads will still be "moved around a little bit."

It'll certainly be interesting to see how much developers will embrace the idea of the Universal Windows Platform, and how much it will affect the Xbox One. Doubtlessly, we'll see the number of supported apps explode.

http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/04/29/microsoft-explains-how-universal-windows-platform-affects-xbox-one-and-more-all-new-api-will-be-universal/

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

New hololens demo.

[Legend]

New hololens demo.

So annoying how gimmicky it is. Some features are cool though, like the tv following him.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

So annoying how gimmicky it is. Some features are cool though, like the tv following him.

But future

[Legend]

The 2,000th topic!!!!!!!

[the-pi-guy]

The 2,000th topic!!!!!!!

A month late high five!