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I recently got a Nokia Lumia 920 and am very interested in developing for it. However, I only have Windows 7 installed on my computers and it looks like I need Windows 8 to use the Windows Phone 8 SDK. I thought perhaps I could use the Windows Phone 7.1 SDK and make Windows Phone 7 apps for it, but I got to the part where I need to register my phone and it says "Unable to connect to phone. Please check that the Zune software is running and that Zune's sync partnership with your phone has been established." This question has an answer saying I cannot get Zune for Windows Phone 8 anymore, so it looks like this option is out of the question...

Is there any way to develop for Windows Phone 8 with Windows 7 without having to upgrade to Windows 8?

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Jeff
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  • Not really, the much easier route would be to upgrade to Windows 8 - what are your reasons for sticking with Windows 7? – Neil Turner Jul 27 '13 at 11:00
  • Several reasons. The main being that I will probably be getting a Windows 8.1 laptop or Surface Pro 2 when they come out in a few months and don't feel like upgrading one computer when I'm just going to get a new one, so financially it doesn't make much sense to me. I also don't want to upgrade Windows 7 in case something goes wrong (such as something not being backwards compatible). Although I guess I could just dual boot – Jeff Jul 27 '13 at 16:07

3 Answers3

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First, trying to install the WP8 SDK (which uses Visual Studio 2012) on Windows 7 isn't possible. Also, Windows Phone 8 devices can't be deployed to by Visual Studio 2010 (part of the WP7 SDK). But there are a couple of other options...


Windows 8 via VMWare

Windows 8 can be installed and run from within VMWare, and you can even deploy to your WP8 device via USB. I would recommend a decent processor (Core i5 or Core i7) and allocate at least 4GB RAM to the VM...

Nokia Developer Wiki - Windows Phone 8 SDK on a Virtual Machine with Working Emulator


Dual-boot Windows 8 and Windows 7

I used this method in the early days before Windows 8 was RTM. The main advantage is that you're running on actual hardware (as opposed to being emulated) so performance is better, especially with the emulator.

Lifehacker - How to Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 Side By Side


Note: Which ever option you choose - If you decide to run the Windows 8.1, when the Windows Phone 8 SDK is installed, you must install the Visual Studio 2012 Update 3 for the SDK to function properly.

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Neil Turner
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  • So this Windows 8.1 preview is free? Will I have to stop using it after the preview session is over? I think I may dual boot Windows 8.1 Preview Edit: "Additionally, you'll also need your Windows 8 product key when you update to the final edition of Windows 8.1 from the preview." What does this mean if I do not get a Windows 8 product key? Will my 8.1 preview become unusable? – Jeff Jul 27 '13 at 22:13
  • If you install Win8 (with a valid key), then update to Win8.1 Preview, you'll be fine. If you install Win8.1 Preview with the trial key MS provide then you will change it later for the RTM version to work. – Neil Turner Jul 27 '13 at 22:45
  • I have had success with dual booting Windows 8.1 Preview and downloading the SDK. Thanks for the answer! – Jeff Jul 28 '13 at 16:40
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Unfortunately, things are pretty straightforward and disappointing in this case.

Windows Phone SDK 8.0 requires 64-bit Windows 8 Pro or higher. You can't develop Windows Phone 8 apps on Windows 7, on Windows Server 2008, or on Windows Server 2012.

Source: Getting started with developing for Windows Phone

karancan
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There's instructions on xda-developers to download the Windows Phone 8 SDK, and apply a patch to the installer to get it to run under Windows 7.

Note that the WP8 emulator will not work under Windows 7. It requires Hyper-V, which is only available as a component of Windows 8 Pro. You can however still deploy your apps to a hardware device for testing.

No solution yet for WP8.1 development.

pdey
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