Using Visual Studio 2012 Express edition for Windows 8 - Build Windows 8 Apps with HTML5 and JavaScript - page 3

Installing Windows 8
Having a machine equipped with Windows 8 is a fundamental prerequisite to working through the
information and exercises in this topic. Windows 8 comes in a few lavors, as detailed in Table 1-1.

TABLE 1-1 Windows 8 editions

Version Description

Windows 8 The Basic edition of Windows 8 is available for both the x86 and x86-64

architecture. It provides a new Start screen and redesigned user interface, live
tiles, Internet Explorer 10, and more.

Windows 8 Pro This edition offers additional features such as booting from VHD and support for

virtualization via Hyper-V.

Windows 8 Enterprise This edition adds IT-related capabilities such AppLocker and Windows-To-Go

(booting and running from a USB drive). This version also supports installation of
internally developed applications from locations other than the Windows Store.

Windows 8 RT Only available pre-installed on ARM-based tablets, it also natively includes

touch-optimized versions of main Office 2013 applications.

If you don't have your copy of Windows 8 already, you can get a free 90-day trial version from the
following location: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx . Note that this link gets
you a non-upgradeable copy of Windows 8 Enterprise. Before you embark on the download, consider
that because it is a few gigabytes in size, it may not be quick!

Installing Visual Studio express
Once you have Windows 8 installed, you can proceed to download Visual Studio 2012 Express edition.
(Note that in the rest of the chapter—and the entire topic—we'll be using the term Visual Studio or
Visual Studio 2012 often just to mean the Visual Studio 2012 Express edition.) As shown in Table 1-2,
Visual Studio is available in different flavors.

TABLE 1-2 Visual Studio 2012 editions

Version Description

Ultimate The feature-complete version of Visual Studio 2012, offering the top-quality

support for every feature.

Premium Lacks some extensions in the area of modeling, debugging, and testing.

Professional Lacks even more functionalities in the area of modeling, debugging, and testing

but still offers a great environment to write and test code.

Express Free but basic version of Visual Studio 2012 optimized for specific development

scenarios. In particular, it is available for building web applications or Windows 8
applications.

You can read more about and compare Visual Studio features at the following page:
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/products/compare .

To start downloading Visual Studio Express for Windows 8, go to the Dev Center for Windows 8
applications at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps (see Figure 1-1).