Windows 8 represents Microsoft’s desire to break out of the traditional desktop computing market and make an impact in the mobile world, which has been dominated by Android devices and, of course, Apple products. Microsoft’s plan is to offer the user consistency across devices, allowing the same apps to operate on the user’s data irrespective of which device, or which kind of device, the user has at hand. This is attractive to many users and it leverages Microsoft’s greatest asset—the leading position in the desktop computing market—to drive sales, acceptance, and credibility in the tablet and smart-phone markets. The traditional Windows desktop isnot a good model for consistency across different types of devices, and attempts to add touch support and rework the interface for smaller screens have not ended well. Trying to extend the old Windows model to small devices is part of the reason Microsoft’s previous forays into the mobile world have fared so badly. And that’s where Windows apps come in. Rather than perpetuate its existing application model, Microsoft has decided to create a new one. Windows Store applications, more commonly known as apps, are available on every device that can run Windows 8 and its derivatives (Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, etc.). More important, Windows apps run as well on large-screen desktop machines with a mouse and keyboard as they do on a moderately sized touch-screen tablet. Windows Store apps are a big departure from regular Windows desktop apps: they fill the screen, don’t have title bars and buttons, and have a completely different look and feel. Another big departure for Microsoft is that you can use web technologies to create apps, which is the reason I have written this book and, most likely, the reason you are reading it. By embracing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Microsoft has embraced a completely new community of developers, who can take their knowledge of web app development and apply it to Windows app development.
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