Rick Walrond, a Windows Phone app developer, has demonstrated how he's managed to get one of his games running on Windows 8 with over 90 percent of the original code. The port of AlphaDrops took about two weeks to complete, and was shown running on a Samsung Series 7 Slate with the Windows 8 Developer Preview. We know that Windows Phone 8 apps will use the same code as in Windows 8, but this demonstration suggests that a lot of current Windows Phone developers will be able to get in on the action as well.
Windows Phone app shown running in Windows 8 with over 90 percent of original code
Rick Walrond, a Windows Phone app developer, has demonstrated his game AlphaDrops running on Windows 8 with over 90 percent of the original code.
Rick Walrond, a Windows Phone app developer, has demonstrated his game AlphaDrops running on Windows 8 with over 90 percent of the original code.
It looks like the transition from mobile to desktop should be pretty smooth in theory from a coding standpoint, but it’s not without its quirks — user information can’t currently be shared across platforms, for example, though leaderboards are compatible. Walrond also notes that while the shift from Windows Phone to Windows 8 is smooth for a simple Silverlight app such as AlphaDrops, the porting process would likely be a lot more difficult for apps developed in XNA.
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