Developers Stressed Out About Windows 8 and HTML5

VP of Microsoft Julie Larson-Green caused quite a stir with a simple comment at the D9 conference last week. She was pointing to a new app in a preview of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, and stated that “this application is written with our new developer platform, which is based on HTML5 and JavaScript.” Is Microsoft giving up on its core programming platforms to embrace HTML5 and JavaScript?

Developers are concerned that they are being asked to give up the advantages and investments they have in Microsoft’s traditional development tools, and use what many have considered to be an inferior set of programming tools (JavaScript & HTML5). Microsoft doesn’t seem to be saying that, though, and seems to instead be stressing the promise of what these technologies can deliver when used along with its new Windows 8 API.

Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet put it in a proper perspective, stating that “It definitely seems Microsoft’s ultimate goal is to wean developers off Silverlight and to convince them to use HTML5 and JavaScript to write new apps for Windows, going forward. But until there’s better tooling for HTML5 (beyond what Microsoft provides via the F12 HTML tools in Internet Explorer), it seems the Softies are going to support .Net and Silverlight via new versions of Visual Studio, the .Net Framework and Expression.”