In today’s scenario, different types of devices are used to accomplish day to day activities. Different types of devices are used like Smartphone, tablets, desktops and laptops. All these devices are of different processing power and with different storage capability. Because of these variations different types of applications are required for each device. Developing different versions of an app for different platform devices is a time consuming task and it limits the productivity of an app developer.
To overcome all these problems Microsoft has introduced a new technology of Window store applications development. These apps can execute on various devices and support interaction in various ways. This new technology is possible after the launching of Windows 8 operating system by Microsoft.
Earlier different operating systems were introduced for different devices like PCs, tablets and smartphones because all these devices are of different architecture, screen size, screen resolution and interaction mechanisms. All these devices are essential part of today’s life and are very popular.
Because of all these facts, Microsoft has released Windows 8 operating system that can be used on various types of devices successfully. This operating system can be used on touch screen devices as well as on PCs and laptops and support mouse and keyboard devices for interaction.
Microsoft has released following versions of Windows 8 operating system:
Windows 8 support wide range of devices based on three scaling factors. Scaling factors provided by windows 8 are:
Available for screen resolution around 1280 x 800 with 116 DPI (Dot per inch)
Available for HD tablets with 1920 x 1080 resolution on 11.6 inch screen with 190DPI
Available for quad-XGA tablets with 2560 x 1440 resolution on 11.6 inch screen with 253 DPI.
Windows 8 support following different views:
In Windows 8 OS, a new interface is introduced by Microsoft, some of the new elements of this OS are:
On start screen Start button is not present. It contains all the apps in tiled format. We can launch an app by clicking on its tile.
In Windows 8, all common tasks like searching, sharing, and configuration are provided on charms bar. By default it is hidden, we can access it by using Windows logo + C keys together, by moving mouse pointer to the bottom right or upper right corner of the screen or in touch screen devices we can access it by swiping inwards from the right edge of the screen.
Shortcut Keys for accessing various options of charms bar:
Option
