As the Microsoft developer world turns: Guidance for the perplexed

Microsoft is in the midst of launching a host of new operating systems and tools this summer/fall. So what's a developer to choose to build apps and services for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Windows Server 2012 and/or Windows Azure?

There are familiar, legacy .NET tools and frameworks available, like Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation. There are newer and less familiar (to many Microsoft developers) options including XAML and HTML5/JavaScript. And on the server side, there's ASP.Net for building server-based Web applications.

Microsoft tools vendor Telerik has delivered a new version of its Platform Guidance document that aims to help developers sort through the myriad choices, based on the type of application they are developing. The eight-page Platform Guidance PDF is a free download, available as of September 18.

The document doesn't advocate abandonning tried but true platforms like Silverlight, even though Microsoft seems to be trying to wean developers from that platform by downplaying it and declining to comment on its future, beyond committing to support Silverlight 5 through 2021. (Ditto with WinForms, which Telerik notes isn't the best choice for "greenfield" development, but which still has its place.)

Here's the Cliff Notes version of what the Telerik principals are recommending for development of each type of app:

Desktop Applications – WPF
Dashboard/Reporting Applications – ASP.NET MVC (Model View Controller) with HTML5
Data-Driven Websites – ASP.NET MVC and Web API
Interactive Web Applications (Forms over Data) – ASP.NET WebForms
Mobile Website – ASP.NET MVC HTML5
Tablet Applications – XAML and .NET

The Platform Guidance document includes a chart to help developers evaluate whether XAML or HTML is a better choice for building a Metro-Style -- now know officially as "Windows Store" -- application:

At only eight pages, the Guidance document isn't meant to be a be-all/end-all work. But it's a starting point, which offers some much-needed suggestions for those attempting to navigate the rapidly changing Microsoft development waters.

Microsoft equips Windows Server for cloud duty

Microsoft is giving hosting providers and other organizations some tools for setting up their own Windows-based cloud systems using Microsoft Windows Server.

In conjunction with the company's Worldwide Partners Conference (WPC) this week in Toronto, Microsoft has released a preview set of technologies that can be installed on Windows Server that will allow organizations to set up virtual machines and Web hosting services that can then be offered as services, either internally or externally.

Microsoft initially developed all of the technologies to run its own Windows Azure cloud service, though it did not specify if this set of technologies would be fully interchangeable with Microsoft's own Azure service.

The pre-release preview of the technologies, called a Community Technology Preview (CTP), offers three sets of services that can be used by multiple parties. One is for hosting websites and Web applications. Another is for offering virtual machines, of either the Linux or Microsoft variety. The third set of services provides consumers with their own self-service portals.

On Monday, Microsoft announced that it would soon release Windows Server 2012, the next-generation Windows operating system for servers. Server manufacturers will get the OS in August and it will be generally available in September. During his keynote at WPC, Satya Nadella, who is president of Redmond's server and tools business, touted the release, along with these Azure-based technologies, as an alternative to VMware's cloud software.

For website hosting, the package runs not only Microsoft's own ASP (Active Server Pages) and ASP.NET frameworks, but also the open-source PHP Web programming language and Node.js JavaScript framework. It can run both Linux and Windows Server as virtual machines. The package also provides a portal, as well as an API (application programming interface), which both can be used to manage websites and virtual servers. It also includes the ability to provision services, keep track of billing, and add customized artwork and additional services.

The package requires at least four virtual machines running either Windows Server 2012, which will be available by September, or Windows Server 2008 R2. It requires System Center 2012 SP1, currently available only as a CTP. It also requires the updated .NET Framework, both versions 3.5 and 4. And it requires both SQL Server 2008 and MySQL 5.1.

There seems to be interest around offering Windows Server as a cloud service. Monday, hosting provider Rackspace announced that it would start offering Windows Server 2012 as a virtual machine service in the cloud sometime in the next few months.

Enterprise Application Development Capability expands by Micro Focus and Microsoft Partner

Launch Visual COBOL 2.0 beta with Visual Studio 2012 RC to improve application development experience, productivity and accelerate time to market

Micro Focus , the leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, in partnership with Microsoft, today announced it will jointly launch Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.0 beta with Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 RC. Micro Focus' Visual COBOL enables application developers to re-use, enhance, and extend enterprise COBOL applications, alongside other Microsoft language platforms, such as C#, Visual Basic, and ASP.NET -- all from within the leading industry standard Integrated Development Environment - Visual Studio.

Millions of organizations around the world continue to rely on COBOL-based applications to run their business. Micro Focus' Visual COBOL technology already provides a unique, integrated, and industry standard environment to develop these critical applications. COBOL developers and those already familiar with general Visual Studio development techniques will now be able to take advantage of Visual Studio 2012 RC to take those applications forward. Visual Studio levels the playing field for programming languages and Micro Focus is committed to ensuring that modern COBOL programming remains on par with any comparative technology.

Key benefits of Visual COBOL 2.0 beta include:

-- Ensuring longevity by future-proofing business-critical applications deployed on the Windows platform

-- Increasing developer productivity, widening resource pools, and accelerating delivery cycles through its highly integrated development environment

-- Protecting existing investment and intellectual property by modernizing and enabling business applications for .NET and Azure platforms

Visual Studio 2012 RC is a significant delivery by Microsoft to improve the application development experience. Visual Studio 2012 RC is focused on improving developer productivity through faster performance, streamlined responsiveness and improved toolset capability. Visual Studio 2012 RC beta accelerates development time, improves team collaboration, and delivers the latest in UI enhancement through Metro-style interface development.

"With this announcement, Microsoft and Micro Focus are teaming up to provide the best value to all of our customers," said Kevin Brearley, Sr. Director of Product Management for Micro Focus. "Visual COBOL already delivers enterprise innovation for core business applications and now Visual COBOL 2.0 for Visual Studio 2012 RC provides the next generation of COBOL development products, designed for today's Visual Studio developer."

Visual COBOL 2.0 integrates within the Visual Studio 2012 IDE offering COBOL application developers the latest innovations for software development and also supports the latest .NET Framework, version 4.5, to leverage the new development capabilities of the .NET platform. Combining leadership in COBOL application development with the power of Microsoft Visual Studio we have delivered real innovation to the enterprise application developer.

"We're honored to have partners like Micro Focus working closely with us to build on the benefits Visual Studio 2012 RC offers the enterprise development community," said Tom Lindeman, Director of the Visual Studio Industry Partner Program. "Core to Visual Studio 2012 RC is its focus on integrating teams, streamlining development and providing developers a complete toolbox to build leading applications efficiently. Having Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.0 in that toolbox further ensures developers have exactly what they need to quickly build fast, stable, advanced applications."

The partnership between Microsoft and Micro Focus demonstrates the companies' ongoing commitment to lead technology innovation within the application development and modernization market. The joint beta launch of Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 RC and Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.0 delivers a significant advantage for today's enterprise application developer -- improving development experience, productivity and accelerating time to market.