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This is more of a general question for me to look further later. I'm intrigued by this, but it seems completely confusing.

As far as I understand from what I read online, the only way you can get Metro apps for Windows 8 is through the Windows Store... So how come Chrome and Firefox (firefox is in beta, mind you) combo desktop and metro apps in a downloadable application available off of the store? Does this mean that metro apps CAN be distributed outside of the store, provided that they're for x86 only?

Edit: And further... if they can be installed from outside the store, can anybody point me to a resource where I can learn to make said apps? I've always disliked being forced to use the store to use and distribute FOSS apps I make.

Mirrana
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    I think the store-only restriction only applies to the ARM version. Same distinction as with iOS and OS X. – Thilo Oct 05 '12 at 12:06
  • yes, it can be installed from inside also. – Ashok Raj Oct 05 '12 at 12:07
  • Can anybody point me to a resource where I can read about how to make them? I know nothing about metro app development yet, but I soon will start making them once I can get my paws on a permanent copy of Win8. – Mirrana Oct 05 '12 at 12:11
  • You have the official website: dev.windows.com – Jérémie Bertrand Oct 05 '12 at 12:17
  • There was a big ruckus about it, Mozilla started it. Microsoft relented. You'll only get this same kind of treatment when you too have millions of users that love your desktop app. Flash is another example, getting the nod early. Unfortunately. The days that coaxing a user into running your installer was enough to get your app deployed are over and done with, it will never come back. A strategy used by Apple and instrumental in making it the company with the largest market capitalization in the USA. – Hans Passant Oct 05 '12 at 13:58
  • See my response on this related question: http://stackoverflow.com/a/12643228/1656796 – Nathan Kuchta Oct 05 '12 at 14:30
  • I agree with the possible death of the installer, so to speak... but that's not what bothers me so much as the ability for Microsoft to control whether or not my application can even be run in the first place by virtue of them taking it off the store. – Mirrana Oct 06 '12 at 22:44

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Browsers are a special class of Windows Apps. They have lots of privileges that other apps don't get. See here.

From the linked article:

According to Microsoft, a Metro style enabled desktop browser gets "full access to Win32 APIs for rendering HTML5, including the ability to use multiple background processes, JIT compiling, and other distinctly browser-related functionality (like background downloading of files)."

Basically, the Metro browser gets to use the same code as the desktop browser; other Metro apps don't get that. No other Metro apps can run in the background (except for a few specific things like playing music); they get a few seconds to tidy up and then stop running as soon as they're not in the foreground. A Metro browser can keep downloading and uploading files even when you switch away from it.

Desktop browsers have the special ability to also have metro version if they are configured correctly. See here.

Community
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N_A
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  • OK, so the question remains: How does Windows 8 enforce this supposed browser-only privilege? Clearly, metro versions of non-RT code can be used -- even if it's only supposed to be for browsers. How does the browser accomplish this, and why can't a normal app not mimic this approach? – Mirrana Oct 05 '12 at 12:40
  • @agent154 I pulled a quote from the linked article and put it in my answer. – N_A Oct 05 '12 at 13:34
  • I read the article. And I get it to a point. But (maybe I miss something) it just doesn't seem to jive well. I guess I need to see a proof of concept using code to show why it works for browsers and not for non-browsers. – Mirrana Oct 05 '12 at 22:55
  • The article very states that if the browser is setup to be a "New experience enabled desktop browser" _and_ it is selected as the default browser, then it will be available as a metro application as well. I supposed you could register another application type as the default browser if you wanted to try to work around this restriction. – N_A Oct 06 '12 at 00:13