Windows 8, .NET and XNA

Around a month ago Microsoft announced that Windows 8 would be a cross platform operating system. It will end up supporting x86 and ARM SoC, the two current major architectures in personal computing.

How exactly will Microsoft will handle deployment for such different platforms is up for speculation. Personally, I’m expecting a combination of immediate legacy x86 translation, short-term Mac style fat binary bundles and a big push towards pure .NET applications. I believe the latter is inevitable and a good bet for game development as a long term solution.

This is happening at a time where high performing 3D graphics are becoming ubiquitous in netbooks, tablets and even smartphones. Not only will these games run on every device and reach a wider and expanding market, they will also look amazing. This is where XNA comes in.

I’ve got a copy of “3D Graphics with XNA Game Studio 4.0” by Sean James (Packt Publishing) on the way:

According to the description, the book is “a step-by-step guide to adding the 3D graphics effects used by professionals to your XNA games”. I’ll be posting a review of this book soon for to those of you interested in learning a bit, or a bit more about XNA.