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back to article Remember Windows 8? Microsoft is still trying to reunify the API it split for the touchy OS's benefit

Microsoft has released "WinRT API Packs" for Windows desktop developers, letting you call on platform functions previously restricted to UWP apps, as well as a preview Windows Forms designer for .NET Core 3.0 desktop applications. There is a lot to parse here. The world may be trying to forget Windows 8, but it marked a change …

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  1. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Thumb Up

    Actually...

    I use Windows 8 with Stardock Start8 so I never the horrible and confusing Fisher Price interface and it's very nice. Windows 7 SP3 really.

    7 1 Reply
    1. Zippy´s Sausage Factory
      Reply Icon

      Re: Actually...

      I use classic shell personally, having never bothered upgrading Start8. But I do remember Start8 was very nice.

      7 0 Reply
      1. jmch Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Up

        Re: Actually...

        Classic shell here as well. The highest praise I can give it is that I installed when I got the Win 8 laptop and completely forgot thenceforth that I was actually running Win 8 rather than 7

        6 0 Reply
        1. JohnFen
          Reply Icon

          Re: Actually...

          I use and love Classic Shell too, but on Windows 10. It's one of the things I consider mandatory in order to make Win 10 more tolerable.

          9 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      Re: Actually...

      Comment out of article scope...

      2 14 Reply
    3. Carrot007
      Reply Icon

      Re: Actually...

      > so I never the horrible and confusing Fisher Price interface

      You never used XP? (or you did and turned off the theme?)

      Yes ther FPI refers to XP and never to 8.

      8 was just, BAG OF SHIT.

      But they fixed it in win 10 beta (aka 8.1).

      0 1 Reply
      1. JohnFen
        Reply Icon

        Re: Actually...

        "But they fixed it in win 10 beta (aka 8.1)."

        I think that's seriously overstating things. They did improve a couple of things, but they didn't really "fix" it. And even after numerous Win 10 releases, it's still not really fixed.

        6 0 Reply
  2. Zippy´s Sausage Factory
    Flame

    The reason is that the company has yet to improve on it for quick and easy desktop development, even though WPF is far superior for scaling, visual transitions and more.

    Does WPF actually support turning off font smoothing yet? If it does, then there might finally be a version of WPF that my particular kind of eye problems can tolerate for more than five minutes without giving me a headache.

    WPF also seems to give things a rather "written with Visual Basic 3.0" look and feel to me, so I'd rather Microsoft just threw the thing away altogether and we never speak of it again, personally.

    5 4 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    (As a non-developer) most of that meant very little to me.

    But it sounds like a right bloody mess.

    Did I get the right take home message?

    16 0 Reply
    1. Lorin Thwaits
      Reply Icon

      Re: (As a non-developer) most of that meant very little to me.

      As a developer, I'll say that a house that is divided against itself will fall.

      Please make one thing, Microsoft. You're done with phones, so be done with phones. And make one thing.

      8 0 Reply
      1. Blackjack Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: (As a non-developer) most of that meant very little to me.

        They might still make Tablets or touch screen enabled laptops.

        I mean the Nintendo Switch is kind of a tablet right?

        3 0 Reply
  4. AMBxx Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Not again

    I'm losing track of what Microsoft stuff I should be ignoring.

    24 0 Reply
    1. katrinab Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Linux

      Re: Not again

      All of it

      17 1 Reply
      1. N2
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: Not again

        Beat me to it.

        Pint as its nearly Friday, well its always nearly Friday...

        4 0 Reply
  5. JohnFen

    Does desktop development still matter?

    It certainly does to me. As far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much the only thing that matters.

    18 2 Reply
  6. Paul Shirley

    UWP and XBox

    When I retired nearly 2 years ago, Microsoft still seemed to be pushing UWP hard for games on PC, largely to force them off the desktop into their store. The team didn't seem to have a lot of problems porting XBox1 projects to UWP for PC.

    Been too busy trying to attack my 5k+ Steam queue since then to track if MS are still foisting UWP on XBox, but it's the only viable non-PC platform they have left.

    5 0 Reply
  7. eldakka
    Coat

    Remember Windows 8?

    Please, I'd rather not.

    6 0 Reply
  8. DrBed

    WinRT BSs

    I don't beleive it until I see "reunification" like this one:

    https://www.businessinsider.com/steven-sinofsky-surface-skateboard-2012-10

    btw: Windows 7 going out of support in January 2020 ?

    Nope, Tim. 2023. You should start reading ElReg ;)

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/02/windows_7_extended_security/

    0 0 Reply

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