First steps with Windows 8 development - Build Windows 8 Apps with HTML5 and JavaScript - page 99

FIGURE 5-1 From Windows 8 back to the classic Windows user interface.
Fate of old-fashioned Windows applications
Windows applications that previously ran on Windows 7 can only be run in standard Windows
mode for Windows 8. To have them available in the default Windows 8 user interface, they must be
rewritten as Windows Store apps. For example, you can't use any of the Microsoft Office applications
without getting and installing a Windows Store version of Microsoft Office. Similarly for browsers,
both flavors of Windows 8 have their own version of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
In the end, Windows 8 doesn't break compatibility with the millions of applications available out
there. It simply makes it clear that the future of the Windows platform goes in another direction.
Supported programming languages
You can write Windows Store applications in three main ways. You can use HTML and JavaScript, as
you'll see in this topic. In addition, you can write applications using the C# or Visual Basic programming
language and the XAML markup language to specify the user interface. Finally, you can use the C++
language with XAML as the markup language to express the user interface.
All approaches deliver the same programming power. You can build the same application regardless of
the language and markup you choose. For a number of reasons, JavaScript and HTML form the approach
that makes it easier (but equally effective) for most developers, and especially for beginners.
Note The fact that any supported programming language for the Windows 8 platform can
be used to build any type of application is not a secondary point, and it stems from the
overall architecture of the Windows 8 platform.