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BUILD 2013-Keynote Day 1

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So, the keynote for day 1 of BUILD 2013 is complete. A lot of new stuff shown, confirmations on functionality in Windows 8.1 and a few surprises. This won’t be an exhaustive review of the keynote, but a personal highlight of some of some of the stuff I thought was interesting.

 

But first, the fundamentals:

You can download the Windows 8.1 preview now, https://preview.windows.com

Go to https://msdn.microsoft.com to download Visual Studio 2013 preview, You will need to sign in.

 

Now, a few highlights for me:

 

  • Windows 8.1. It really looks good. The official slogan was “Refined blend of Desktop and Modern” and it shows, Start button, boot to desktop, new tile  sizes, multi monitor support, greatly expanded snap mode, automatic DPI scaling of all apps individually on all of your monitors etc. I have Always said that Windows 8 was two operating systems in one; Glad to see that we balance it so that the desktop becomes even more usable.
  • Hinting on new Controls for WinRT, stating 5000 new APIs, better integration with external devices etc. We will learn a lot more in the coming Days but I hope they will open up the WinRT platform so more kind of apps can be written as Windows Store apps
  • The new design of the Windows Store. SO much better.
  • The improved support for portrait mode.
  • The giveaways! Acer Iconia W3 AND a Surface Pro with a Type Cover! Not that I as Microsoft employee get anything, but I’m happy for you other guys Ler
  • Bing as a platform opening up for us as developers. I was blown away by some of the capabilities we saw and can’t wait to dig into those.
  • Project Spark! Didn’t see the E3 demo – AWESOME!

Some numbers:

  • 6 000 attendees
  • 5 000 new APIs
  • 100 000 apps in the Windows Store by the end of the month

Now sitting and waiting for the session “What’s new in Visual Studio 2013” session. This is going to be interesting.

 

New blog about that soon.