We finally have the first details on the apps strategy that Microsoft has in store for Windows Core OS, which is basically a way to make Windows 10 more modern and modular in nature.
Why we did not have this approach from the get go is the question of the century, but here we are.
Anyway, some small trickles of information have been making their way out regarding this — documents and insider reports, slide screenshots and whatnot. But we now have, what you can label, the most concrete information. That too, from a solid source.
Apparently, Aggiornamenti Lumia has come across the very first applications designed with Windows Core OS in mind, which according to the leak have already been submitted to the Microsoft Store.
Documentation attached to the report reveals that Redmond is now adding a new platform for app developers to target. It is called Windows.Core, and will be used for devices and hardware that runs this new variant of the operating system.
Here’s a rundown of the different platforms an app can currently be made for.
- Desktop: The application can only be installed on PCs and tablets
- Mobile: The application can be installed only on Windows 10 Mobile (Windows.Mobile is to be considered nowadays obsolete and practically unused)
- Team: The application can be installed only on Surface Hub
- Xbox: The application can only be installed on an Xbox console
Developers can choose to pursue the new Windows.Core platform and leave behind older versions of Windows and focus on the new tools provided by Core OS.
Or they can continue to develop their apps for the Windows.Universal platform that will run their apps on any Windows 10 powered device. Microsoft has already updated the Dev Center to allow a select group of developers to flight Windows Core applications.
Basically, the software titan is confident enough that the Windows.Core platform will provide developers specific benefits that may tempt them away from the other option.
Many of these plans also relate to the fabled Andromeda, so there’s that.
Not to mention, the upcoming Surface Hub 2 that is in development behind Redmond walls.
So, if things proceed according to plan, we may well get our first look at what Microsoft is cooking both in terms of hardware and software sooner rather than later. Hopefully, this modular approach also means that this is that for the fragmentation of the developer tools.
