Azure Toolkit released for Windows 8

Microsoft have released the Windows Azure toolkit for developers. This allows them to utilise the cloud aspect of Windows Azure from Windows 8 Metro style applications. Developers can snag it over here.

Microsoft's Nick Harris said “The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 is designed to make it easier for developers to create a Windows Metro style application that can harness the power of Windows Azure Compute and Storage. It includes a Windows 8 Cloud Application project template for Visual Studio that makes it easier for developers to create a Windows Metro style application that utilizes services in Windows Azure. ”

He added “This template generates a Windows Azure project, an ASP.NET MVC 3 project, and a Windows Metro style JavaScript application project.  Immediately out-of-the-box the client and cloud projects integrate to enable push notifications with the Windows Push Notification Service (WNS). In Addition, the Windows Azure project demonstrates how to use the WNS recipe and how to leverage Windows Azure Blob and Table storage.”

The Windows 8 Azure Toolkit comprises:

• Guidance in the forms of code samples, documentation and best practices
• Tooling support with Visual Studio project templates
• Code in the shape of reusable services and libraries

It supports HTML 5 and Javascript, .NET, C#, C++ and Visual Basic allowing developers to use their favourite languages to allow for notifications and sign on identities within Windows 8.

According to the blog post, the Azure Toolkit also includes a Windows Push Notification Service, Dependency Checker, VS 2010 project templates, Dev 11 project templates and Sample Applications.

On the Windows Azure teamblog they said “In today’s multi-device world, the cloud becomes a strategic hub for applications, experiences, and data.  These toolkits leverage the cloud to simplify the complexity of supporting multiple devices while exploiting each device.  Developers can use Windows Azure to support common requirements like device notifications, authentication, storage, and even higher-level services like leaderboards for gaming. At the same time, the toolkit helps developers take full advantage of each device by writing client code for each platform. ”

Kitguru says: Microsoft are already putting their full weight behind development tools for the upcoming platform.

Become a Patron!