Windows 8 Apps

I received an email from Microsoft. They need people to write apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone. And they are ready to reward developers. Hey. I like rewards. So I figure I am up for the challenge. You can write up to 20 apps, half for Window 8, half for Windows Phone. Microsoft will give you a $100 Visa debit card for each app that makes it into their Windows Store.

I was excited. Cooked up some ideas for apps. Then I went to town and wrote some sample programs. These programs worked under Windows 7. I figured it would be easy to move them over to Windows 8. I was wrong. The first problem was that the tool I used just would not create a Windows 8 app.

Found the tool that does produce Windows 8 apps. Oh no. It does not work on my system. You need Windows 8 on your PC to run the tool. I guess that makes sense. I tried to get a free copy of Windows 8. I should be able to because I am a student. That lead nowhere. So I bought a copy of Windows 8. I did use my student discount to get it at a reduced rate.

I installed Windows 8 on my old laptop. Installed the tool. Now what? I tried to hit the books. Downloaded a free book for Amazon Kindle. Checked out a book from the library. They do teach you how to write Windows 8 apps. But I am not familiar wth the computer programming languages these books use. Could not easily find a book that matches the language I wish to use. Finally I decided to slug through it without the help of a book.

Now I am struggling because the tool for Windows 8 does not seem to work like the tool I had for Windows 7. Maybe that is because I am using the free version of the tool. Well I am a student. So I downloaded the Professional version of the tool, which is also free since I am a student. The deadline to finish the apps is in about a week. At this rate, I might not even finish the first app. I planned to write 10 of them. Oh boy.