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Comment by WiseWeasel | Hacker News Reader

Ah, thanks for the correction. Apparently it is possible to support both x86 and ARM if you write Metro apps using Windows Runtime, or WinRT, not to be confused with Windows RT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_RT). The wording ("can be written") seems like a qualifier to me however, with potential gotchas. I guess the question would be whether existing Metro software is in fact compatible with Windows RT. Then there's the fact that there simply isn't much Metro software available in the first place.

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The link I gave was just my lazy attempt at citing something. Wikipedia is hardly reliable source No. 1.

In reality, it is my understanding the Windows RT (the OS), can only run applications designed for Metro/WinRT (the runtime). That is, any Metro application out there should be compatible with both Windows 8 and Windows RT (the OS).

(There may well be gotchas around reusing some native libraries, but I suspect these would be few and far between).

So to your earlier 'bet' you went against...

> ...Windows RT will have more apps at launch than Android tablet currently exist.

Well Windows RT (the OS) should have the same number of (Metro-style) apps as Windows 8, given my understanding from above. I'd expect this to be a pretty high number once the devices hit, given that Developer Preview (and therefore the tools to make these apps) have been out for nearly a year now.

Counting the number of Android tablet apps is more difficult. I wouldn't count the full total of Android apps, only ones optimised for a larger screen. First you have to define it. On Google Play's store, I could only find one list of apps for Tablets, which only has around 250 apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/tablet_feature... (Given that I was able to get to the 11th page).

If betting the number of Windows RT apps against 250, I know which I'd put my money on.

Of course, there may well be more than 250. How on earth does one find them though?

(In my quick searching, I came across this article from the honeycomb days, which still seems to apply: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/mystery-how-many-a...)

Windows Store has 100 apps in the "All Stars" section, so I'm assuming the total number is greater than that (by how much I don't know). Also, registration is currently invite-only, so I would suspect there are many people like myself developing apps but are unable to submit them.

No, they are exactly the same. Just a separate build. My point was that by writing software for Metro you are writing it for every future PC purchase, and although a lot of those won't be using Metro much, the sheer number of people who can use Metro is going to eclipse even the iPad. So the potential is obviously great.

I understand the logic, and there's something to be said for being a big fish in a small pond, and the exposure of being one of the first to support the platform. But in the face of exploding iPad and Nexus 7 sales, I must admit I'd be pretty nervous investing heavily in touch-focused software for Windows, in the hopes that a market pans out.

If supporting Metro without leaving mouse and keyboard users behind is possible, then it might seem more viable to me. The choice between dropping support for Windows 7- and maintaining two code bases raises the stakes for many developers. My understanding is that the only way to support Windows 7- and 8 in a single app is to make it non-Metro. So most developers must then choose between supporting Windows 7 and Windows RT, with the latter unproven.

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