This really is a completely new user-level API. There's no trace of traditional Win32 concepts: no window handles, no window classes, no event loop... (Yes, no more WPARAM and LPARAM either. Goodbye 1985!)
For years Microsoft has been trying to come up with a successor for Win32. This looks like the most credible attempt yet.
I don't think this API will be accessible from standard C/C++, though. All the code samples require Microsoft's C++/CLI dialect.
For example, here's what main.cpp looks like for one of the app samples that uses a Direct3D view:
#include "DirectXViewProvider.h"
[Platform::MTAThread]
int main(array<Platform::String^>^)
{
auto directXViewProviderFactory = ref new DirectXViewProviderFactory();
Windows::ApplicationModel::Core::CoreApplication::Run(directXViewProviderFactory);
return 0;
}
It's certainly a great improvement over the old WinMain() and running your own event loop. However, those ^ symbols indicate managed CLI objects. When these are even in the main() function signature, it suggests that C++/CLI is a hard requirement.
I'm not sure how this will affect other compilers on Windows. AFAIK, Visual C++ is the only compiler with C++/CLI compatibility. Will it be impossible to build full apps using GCC on Windows 8?
To answer my own question... It appears that even though this code looks and quacks like C++/CLI, it actually isn't:
"In this example, you will immediately notice some keywords that are not part of standard C++. Visual C++ defines a few Component Extensions that, in a Metro style app,are essentially syntactic sugar over the underlying COM calls involved in creating and consuming Windows Runtime types.
"If you are familiar with C++/CLI, you will notice that the Component Extensions look very similar to C++/CLI syntax. However, in a Metro style app or Windows Runtime component, all the C++ code is native. The /Zw compiler option causes the Component Extensions to be compiled for Windows Runtime. The /cli compiler option causes them to be compiled for C++/CLI. Currently, C++/CLI is not supported for Metro style apps."
I'm fairly confused now. So they've added a compiler extension in Visual C++ v11 that compiles this C++/CLI look-a-like syntax into traditional COM types and calls? If so, that's good news for other compilers, I guess.
Am I the only dev in the world who doesn't know what a "Metro style app" is ? Trying to find out what a metro style app actually is on MSDN is a frustrating exercise. It's annoying when any organization invents new terminology and then acts as if it is a fundamental part of the language.
