Comments on: ASUS@vibe Android apps on PC tool released

By: AmiRami

AmiRami — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:10:00 +0000

If you are correct about that then I completely agree that is a huge FAIL. But as far as I was aware, windows will support multiple Metro browsers in both RT and Intel, and on Intel only, you can install any desktop browser just like you can now.
As far as the sandboxed issue goes, I can’t imagine that apps won’t be allowed full system resources because that, as you said, would cripple the OS to such a degree that the system would become useless. I was under the impression that although MS wants developers to limit the access the Apps have to API’s etc…, they technically can still use the,. the programs must ask the user for permission to use system resources, kinda like what UAC does now, but perhaps more annoying. Do we know how much the SDK will allow in terms of API’s be default?
I got some pretty good info from the MS blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/17/delivering-reliable-and-trustworthy-metro-style-apps.aspx

By: jhdale

jhdale — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:48:00 +0000

There probably will be such applications. But it’s important to note that Metro apps come with inherent restrictions that are imposed because of RT support. There are things you simply are not permitted to do in a Metro app. Such as provide a browser (you can only have one Metro browser, unlike on the desktop). Or run an app in the background without explicitly defining background tasks (unlike desktop apps which do true multitasking by default). Metro apps run sandboxed with limited access to system resources, including devices. Etc. In short, you simply cannot harness the full power of the system with a Metro app. Even if it is to be run on a real computer.

By: AmiRami

AmiRami — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:07:00 +0000

But Metro imho wasn’t designed just for mobile. Sure it started there with the Zune, but its really just a design interface, not a limitation in processing power or functionality.
Take iOS apps for example. There are games in the App store that require such graphics and processing power that unless you have the latest gen iphone or ipad you simply can not run them. you technically can buy them on older devices but they come with a warning. Don’t download if your device can’t support it.
I believe that it will be the same with the Windows Market place. There will be toy ARM type apps for sure that will run on both systems. But I am sure there will be apps tha come with a warning that says someting like if you aren’t running at least an Intel core i3, don’t download.
Windows can’t ignore the huge application base that makes it so strong in the first place or the developers that got it there. So for that reason alone I am hoping this will not be an end to serious computing.

By: jhdale

jhdale — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Metro is the interface designed for mobile devices, and Metro apps will run on Windows RT devices (potentially with ARM processors). The mobile Windows 8 experience is Metro.

If you run Metro apps on a full-blown computer, you will be getting the same experience as you would on a mobile computer with an ARM processor. Perhaps the processor speed and memory will be higher, but the functionality will be the same as on a mobile device. That’s the whole selling point of Windows RT.

But turn that selling point around — to go beyond what you can do on a mobile device, you need to get out of Metro and into the desktop mode. Metro itself is a tablet emulator placed over your desktop.

By: AmiRami

AmiRami — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:50:00 +0000

but what bout metro makes you think that it will turn a full blown computer into a mobile device?

By: jhdale

jhdale — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Of course not. Why would you want to emulate a mobile device on a mobile device? This is about turning your expensive full-blown computer into a limited mobile device (or treating it like one).

By: AmiRami

AmiRami — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:49:00 +0000

I doubt this app is Metro so it won’t work on Windows RT

By: jhdale

jhdale — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:18:00 +0000

May as well. Microsoft is bringing their new mobile OS, Windows 8 RT, to the PC as well. Of course Microsoft is pretending it’s part of the PC operating system but functionally it really amounts to the same thing – running mobile apps on your PC. The difference is that you can run Android apps in a window instead of only full-screen.