Bringing Existing Apps to Windows 8

Abstract

Since Windows 8 was announced, I have been studying it, blogging about it, and giving presentations related to it. Throughout this process, there has been one question that I get asked repeatedly: “Windows 8 looks great … but how do I bring my existing application to it?” This is a perfectly valid question. Not every application for Windows 8 is a brand-new application. Many applications released on Windows 8 already exist on one or more other platforms. In almost all of these cases, the application in question will need to undergo a bit of a transformation before landing in the Windows Store. In a process Microsoft calls “reimagining,” apps must shed the UI patterns (or lack thereof, in some cases) of their current platform in order to fit into the Windows 8 ecosystem. In this chapter, I will explain the process involved in transforming a traditional Windows desktop application into a Windows Store application. I will then discuss a few strategies you can employ to bring tablet applications from other platforms onto Windows 8. In many ways, this chapter is a culmination of everything you have learned so far in this book. For each stage of the transformation, I will refer to the underlying reasons for each change. Many things will relate back to the design principles you learned in Chapter 2.