Win 8 on iPad for Developer Eyes Only
Microsoft, it seems, would do anything to help developers write Metro apps, even if it means making nice with the enemy -- in this case, the evil iPad.
Third-party Splashtop (pretty cool name, which is rare for a software vendor these days) has a lot of developers who want to build Metro apps. The only problem is many of these folks don't have $1,200 clams for a sweet Samsung tablet that, by all accounts, runs Win 8 swimmingly (not all Metro developers are from huge, well-funded ISVs).
Splashtop did find that most all of its tablet developers already have iPads. Why not find a cheap and easy way to build Metro apps on those puppies?
Turns out Microsoft was more than happy to oblige. And thus the "Win8 Metro Testbed" tool was born.
This approach is pretty simple. You have to have Win 8 running somewhere. Then you connect the iPad and stream Win 8 over the network of your choosing. Simple and free.
I'm sure when Win 8 ships there will be plenty of ways to run it on an array of devices. In fact, Microsoft is already working on tools aimed at Software Assurance customers.
The neat thing about TestBed is that it gives developers a leg up now, and taps into the brainpower that made the iPad such a success. And gosh only knows the iPad could use a little competition.
What would it take for you to ditch your iPad for Win 8? Better enterprise integration? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/13/2012 at 1:19 PM