Announces new toolkits, tools, cloud and productivity
services designed for every developer.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2015 /CNW/ -- Microsoft Corp. on
Wednesday announced new features in Windows 10 and unveiled a set
of software development kits (SDKs) to help developers bring their
code for the Web, .NET, Win32, Android and iOS to Windows 10. At
the company's annual Build developer conference, Microsoft also
announced new Microsoft Azure data services for intelligent
applications; Visual Studio and .NET tools and runtimes for
Windows, Mac and Linux; and APIs that enable developers to build
rich apps with Office 365.
"Microsoft has bold ambitions for platforms that empower
developers across Windows, Azure and Office," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "Together, we
will create more personal and more intelligent experiences that
empower billions of people to achieve more."
Windows 10 offers unique scale and opens up new platform
opportunities for developers
Microsoft showcased several
new features in Windows 10, from new capabilities to scale
applications across devices to new ways for developers to build
code for Windows 10. Capturing the breadth of opportunity, the
company declared its ambition to have 1 billion active Windows 10
devices by FY18.
The company further detailed ways in which developers can create
a single app that scales across all Windows 10 devices,
automatically adapting to different screen sizes. With the
Universal Windows Platform, developers can tailor their apps to the
unique capabilities of each device, integrate Cortana and Xbox Live
into their apps, offer trusted commerce, create holograms, and
publish their apps into the Windows Store. Also as part of the
Universal Windows Platform, the company shared how apps can scale
using Continuum for phones, enabling people to use their phones
like PCs for productivity or entertainment.1
The Windows Store will also offer a single unified experience
for Windows 10 customers across devices and make finding great
content easier than ever — across apps, games, music, video and
other content.2 Transactions will take advantage of a
range of popular payment options, including the largest carrier
billing footprint of any ecosystem supporting 90 mobile operators.
USA Today, WeChat, Disney and
Netflix Inc. are a few of the partners referenced in the keynote
already building apps for the Windows Store.
Microsoft welcomed all developers to the Universal Windows
Platform by announcing four new software development toolkits that
will make it easy to bring their code for the Web, .NET, Win32, iOS
and Android to the Windows Store with minimal code modifications.
This will enable developers to start with an existing code base
such as Android or iOS, integrate with the Universal Windows
Platform capabilities, and then distribute their new application
through the Windows Store.
New features for Microsoft Edge, the new browser for Windows 10,
were also unveiled, offering developers better discoverability of
their apps and future extensibility with JavaScript and HTML.
Highlighting the opportunity with Windows 10, Microsoft shared
the progress it has made in fewer than 100 days since unveiling
Microsoft HoloLens — the world's first untethered holographic
computer powered by Windows 10 — and showcased how customers like
Trimble, Case Western Reserve
University and Cleveland Clinic are using this innovative
new technology.
More information on Windows 10 and Microsoft HoloLens can be
found at Blogging Windows.
Azure and Visual Studio help developers build intelligent
apps on multiple platforms and devices
Microsoft previewed
Azure SQL Database elastic database, which allow ISVs and
software-as-a-service developers to pool capacity across thousands
of databases, enabling them to benefit from efficient resource
consumption and the best price and performance in the public cloud.
To help developers manage massive datasets, Microsoft introduced
Azure SQL Data Warehouse, the industry's first enterprise-class
cloud data warehouse as a service that can grow, shrink and pause
in seconds. Microsoft also announced Azure Data Lake, an open
and massively scalable data repository that supports petabyte-size
files and provides high-speed integration with Azure HDInsight,
Azure Machine Learning, Cloudera and Hortonworks to quickly derive
insights from vast amounts of data.
To help every developer be more productive, Microsoft announced
new best-in-class tools and runtimes for multiple platforms and
devices. In preview on Windows, Mac and Linux, Visual Studio Code
is a free code-focused editor optimized for Web and cloud
applications. Furthering its work with open source and .NET
communities, Microsoft released a preview of the .NET Core for
Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Microsoft also released Visual Studio
2015 Release Candidate, which makes it easier for developers to
build and deploy applications to Windows, Linux, iOS and Android
platforms.
Office gives developers opportunities to reach more users and
build intelligent solutions
Microsoft introduced more ways
for developers to reach 1.2 billion Office users, including the new
Office Graph API, expanded add-in capabilities for the iPad and
Outlook, and unified APIs. The Office Graph API allows customers
and developers to access, add to and build with the Office Graph,
an intelligent store of Office 365 user, service and relationship
data. Unified APIs across OneNote, Outlook and OneDrive, combined
with the Office Graph, will enable developers to help consumers and
organizations take advantage of some of their most valuable and
useful data.
More about Microsoft Azure, Visual Studio and the Office Graph
API can be found here.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help
people and businesses realize their full potential.
1 Limited to select premium phones at launch.
External monitors must support HDMI input. Accessories sold
separately.
2 App availability and experience may vary by
market.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.