Windows 8 Secure Boot

Secure Boot stops a computer from loading an operating system that hasn’t been signed by the publisher (in this case, Microsoft or an OEM), and its signature added to the computer’s firmware...from Read On>>>

Reverse engineering Win8 Apps

A very interesting blog post on reverse engineering Win8 Apps:
Talks about a bit of internals of Metro style Apps, especially the apps that came with Win 8 Dev Preview
http://justinangel.net/ReverseEngineerWin8Apps

WinRT replaces Win32API

Win8 : WinRT replaces Win32API

"Developing for Windows 7: Classic platforms:
· HTML/JavaScript on Internet Explorer
· C/C++ on Win32
· C#/VB on .NET and Silverlight
Developing for Windows 8: Metro Style
Windows Kernel is still at the bottom of the stack
WinRT is the new OS-level API layer. This is the new native API for Windows, it isn’t a new layer on top of Win32.
You can access WInRT from C/C++, C#/VB, or JavaScript. XAML is the UI layer for C, C++, C#, and Visual Basic. HTML/CSS will continue to be used as the UI layer for JavaScript." from www.infoq.com/news/2011/09/WinRT

Windows 8 and Metro style apps

Windows 8 Developer Preview: I run into this very interesting blog:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2011/06/windows-8-for-software-developers-the-longhorn-dream-reborn.ars

There appears to be concerns around disregarding years of windows development knownledge and experience, in favor of HTML 5 and JavaScript.

While its true that you can build Metro style apps using HTML 5 and JavaScript, but you still can have your app logic (code-behind) build using XAML with C++, C# or VB.Net.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/br211386


Also, you can build reusable component libraries using C++, C# or VB.Net and use them from JavaScript or any supported languages.

I happen to notice a lot of talk about WinRT.

Whats WinRT ?
WinRT stands for Windows Runtime. The WinRT is a set of client side API’s which target the new Windows 8 shell experience. The Windows Runtime (WinRT) is a straightforward set of APIs used to build Metro style apps. WinRT lets you build apps that look great and are intuitive for your customers to use.


WinRT APIs are available to developers in multiple languages, including JavaScript, C++, C#, and Visual Basic. The new Windows SDK for Metro style apps also includes a subset of traditional Win32, Component Object Model (COM), and .NET Framework APIs, as well as HTML5 and CSS3 APIs that are accessible to Metro style app developers.

Made me think that HTML 5 with JavaScript is just another feather in the hat. Below dipicts templates in VS2011 in different Metro style app development languages.