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I want to develop an Application that can run on Windows 8,Windows 8, Windows 10 Tablets as well as Desktops. What are the prerequisites for that?

I found this answer here on SO. But it doesn't give me everything I need to know.

Also I'd like to know the following:

1) Which version of windows would be best suited for development in this case?(I currently have windows 7 installed in my system).

2) What version of the Visual Studio IDE should I use?

3) Any guide that'll help me learn and do the development efficiently? (I have worked on web development before but i'm beginner for windows app development)

The choices I make should help me carry forward a hassle free development, thanks! :)

I'm a beginner in windows App development, I've worked on web for quite some time and have the basic knowledge of WinForms.

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Vibhesh Kaul
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1 Answers1

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The only way to have it work on all of those platforms would be to develop a desktop app instead of a Universal Windows App. Visual Studio Community is free and would do everything you'd need. You could look into creating WPF applications or Windows Forms applications; both are compatible with Win7 through 10, although won't run on RT based tablets (it will run on Surface Pro, and similar tablets running FULL Windows).

As far as a guide goes, there are plenty of programming books that you could study, but I would suggest using Google to your advantage when you are stuck on a problem.

Patrick
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  • I've edited the question as I just came to know that we don't have to target windows 7, only the versions 8, 8.1 and 10. – Vibhesh Kaul Mar 02 '16 at 15:47
  • In that case; while my answer still stands as correct, it would depend whether or not you want your application to be available in the Windows Store, and have the ability to run on RT devices. In which case, you would want to look into creating a "Universal Windows App" (UWA/UWP) . It is of my understanding though, that these apps are now only compatible with Windows 10. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong on that. The easiest way to have backwards compatibility though, is a Windows Forms app, or WPF. But that leaves out RT device compatibility. – Patrick Mar 02 '16 at 16:22
  • Keep in mind; "Universal Windows App" doesn't mean it's actually universal. Just universal over Windows 10 devices. – Patrick Mar 02 '16 at 16:26
  • Not very useful to still talk about Windows RT, it completely failed and is no consideration at all anymore. – Hans Passant Mar 02 '16 at 17:20
  • @HansPassant, I only mention this due to the fact that OP mentioned his project working on tablets, and there are still a lot of cheaper Windows-based tablets out there running RT versions of Windows. This has no affect on the answer I offered though, I only mentioned it as a consideration. – Patrick Mar 02 '16 at 18:25
  • The desktop application functions are not user friendly at all for the tablets. – Vibhesh Kaul Mar 10 '16 at 12:43
  • You have to keep tablet control in mind when designing the UI so that it can be controlled without a mouse or keyboard, the same as you would if developing a Universal Windows App. – Patrick Mar 11 '16 at 15:26