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back to article So you want to develop for Windows 8.1? Visual Studio 2013 is HERE

Hot on the heels of Windows 8.1, Microsoft has released the latest versions of its flagship Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server developer tools, albeit only to MSDN subscribers for the time being. Naturally, Visual Studio 2013 offers support for developing Windows Store apps for Windows 8.1, which officially became …

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  1. Quxy
    Unhappy

    It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

    It's hard to fathom why Microsoft sets the bar so high to software development on Windows. Between killing third-party tools and raising the price (and complexity!) of their own bloated offering, I get the feeling they're trying to lock out everyone but the developers who *have* to develop for Windows and those who see a bigger reward for Windows programs.

    Just today I had to quickly write a simple GUI to control some weird USB devices we received. Although I have a VS licence, it was quicker and easier to install Linux in a VM and use Qt and libusb to develop an application. Total time: about 4 hours. Why must every bit of code in Windows turn into a huge, fscking development project? Even OSX is easy by comparison.

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    1. JDX Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

      Is it really that expensive though? Not for a full-time professional. I work with arty folk and they have to buy Maya/3DSMax which are much more expensive last time I checked, and then there's Photoshop. FOSS alternatives exist (Blender, Gimp) but people still believe the paid for products are worth the money and personally I think the same is true for VS.

      You also have to remember that the VS Express tools are quite capable for serious use, many companies use them for creating commercial products and they are completely free. You can develop in VS without paying anything more than your Windows licenses if you use VS-Express and SVN/Git/etc.

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    2. hammarbtyp
      Reply Icon

      Re: It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

      While no lover of MS, I agree with JDX. Compared to many high end development tools MS ones are good value and the free versions offer a lot of the functionality.

      The tools are also very high quality. I often use the Visual C++ to develop small code snippets before porting it to the OS of choice because the debugger is so good compared to say GDB

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    3. RyokuMas
      Reply Icon

      Re: It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

      @Quxy - eh? Where did you get this from?

      When I started playing around with XNA, all the tools were free to download, and I went from nothing to "proto-game" (graphics moving on screen, some user controlled, with basic collisions) within a couple of hours. Since then, I've gone on to develop several games, all with very minimal cost.

      In fact, my single biggest outlay to date for my game development - both in terms of time and money - is Android, specifically the licence for MonoDroid, and difficulties installing Monogame and getting it working.

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      1. joeldillon
        Reply Icon

        Re: It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

        We're not talking about XNA and quick games, though, we're talking about the tools to develop serious applications - C++ compilers and so forth. Gcc/Clang/Xcode and so forth on other platforms are free.

        Also, a quick Google seems to indicate XNA is no longer being developed by Microsoft...

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      2. Quxy
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Re: It's almost as if Microsoft doesn't want developers

        Free? Who said anything about that? As I said, I *own* the Microsoft development tools needed to do the job.

        It's just that trying to use VS to quickly write a simple USB driver and device GUI is like using a city bus to drive to the corner store. It's possible, but a bicycle is quicker and easier.

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  2. Stiggy

    It's still as ugly as sin

    So I'll stick with 2010 until they drop the TIFKAM bonkersness.

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