As developers evolve, so do their applications. And, we are evolving with them. To-date, Windows 7 has sold a record-breaking 90 million licenses making it the fastest selling operating system in history. This creates an awesome opportunity for developers to create some stunning software applications for a vast audience. We’re recognizing that there is an ongoing trend today with developers creating applications that bring together the best of the Web with the best of the Windows. A great example of this is Seesmic for Windows. Seesmic has adopted the Windows Platform as its delivery mechanism today for bringing Twitter to your Windows PC. For geeks like me, Seesmic provides Seesmic for Windows. And for the more casual user, they have Seesmic Look.
We are excited about what we’re seeing from developers like Seesmic and others and are encouraged by the future development of applications on the Windows Platform. There are 3 million developers and the majority target Windows. To help them stay connected with us and the community; we are introducing a new website today called Develop for Windows. We heard feedback from developers that they would like to be able to easily discover important resources for developing for Windows. We are looking to provide just that on the new Develop for Windows website. The new site will allow us to hear from developers and to provide them a single place to find all the resources and tools they can use to build great applications for Windows.
The Develop for Windows website is our direct connection to the developer community, and vice versa. Developers who visit the site will be able to learn about developing for Windows by seeing what’s new with Windows 7, get sample code and special “kits” to jump-start developing a Windows application, and of course pointers to lots and lots of Windows developer content at the Windows Developer Center on MSDN. The Develop for Windows website will also provide special “learning tracks” for developers to experience the technology they are developing for.
We also encourage developers to remain active in the Windows developer community by visiting the Windows forums, learning about local events they should attend and looking at what other developers are building. Microsoft puts on several events each year specifically targeting the developer. This last fall we had PDC09, which allowed developers to attend the Windows Bootcamp and learn about building applications that take advantage of Windows Touch, Sensor and Location Platform and a few other Windows 7 Technologies. Next week, we have MIX10 which is a fantastic event for developers looking to create the types of applications for Windows, mentioned above that bring in the best of the Web with the best of the client experience on Windows.
If you’re developing applications for Windows or looking to begin developing applications for Windows, the new Develop for Windows website is perfect for you. This is just the beginning. We’ll be adding a dedicated social media hub for developers, a developer hero showcase, event content on demand, and fresh videos of developers building innovative applications. Add the site to your Favorites and keep checking back as we’re going to continue to provide updated content on the site based on the feedback we receive from developers. We’ll also have some tips and highlights after MIX10 on Silverlight and Visual Studio 2010 as well!