WinRT apps vs desktop programs

[anon(8913816)]

Which advantages and disadvantages does each of them have?

 

[jnjroach]

WinRT Apps have less impact on battery life, they tend to scale better on high DPI screens and work better on Touch Screens then Win32.

 

[Wasim Wes Adetunji]

The problem I have with desktop software is that it does slow down my PC. Only apps can be assured to not have viruses or spyware.

 

[astondg]

I like the way WinRT apps work with snap, the way they integrate with the OS through things like notifications, lock screen, etc., and the way they work with the charms. In particular I use the share charm a lot to share things between apps.

I also like that the apps tend to backup user data & settings and roam these between devices and that the whole installed app list roams between devices as well.

 

[hotphil]

WinRT apps are the future. Programs running in the Desktop app are legacy (and for all the uninformed UI haters out there, Windows 8 onwards makes a lot of sense when you consider Desktop to be an app).

 

[anon(8913816)]

WinRT apps are the future. Programs running in the Desktop app are legacy (and for all the uninformed UI haters out there, Windows 8 onwards makes a lot of sense when you consider Desktop to be an app).

I think Microsoft just has to work on making WinRT apps more powerful, that's probably he No. 1 complaint about it, isn't? They have to continue adding features while dramatically improving performance to show the real advantages of WinRT. Btw, the IE Team said one of the things why they chose WinRT is because it can do hardware acceleration... What does that mean?

 

[anon(8913816)]

Maybe to sum it up a bit...
Advantages WinRT:
- more secure
- less impact on battery life and system resources
- better scaling
- ability to backup app data through the system
- interesting system integration possibilities
Disadvantages:
- missing features
- slower performance (?)

 

[astondg]

Btw, the IE Team said one of the things why they chose WinRT is because it can do hardware acceleration... What does that mean?

I don't know what they are referring too but WinRT uses the graphics card for UI rendering of things like transitions & animations (I think this applies to XAML & HTML apps). It also has access to hardware decoding of video formats like h.264.

I would have thought that desktop apps would have access to the same stuff though.

 

[michail71]

In short they run in sort of a sandboxed environment from the system where there is much tighter controls on security and common APIs for all apps. Installation and distribution is also easier. No more trying to find the real, and often hidden, download button on random websites to install apps. No more sneaking browser toolbars in either.

I don't think desktop apps will be going anywhere soon. There is still a need for them, services and drivers.

 

[Don Geronimo]

One advantage to Universal Apps in the future with Windows 10 for all the devices involved is a universal way of making an app once and having it adapt to whatever device can run Windows in the future: PCs, Laptops, Tablets, AIOs, Convertibles, Phones, and Phablets. Current Universal Apps already have a way of using common business logic as shared code with UI/UX code as separate solutions on a per-device basis. The new way would accommodate a write once, run anywhere, kind of development for all apps written in the future.

 

[gwinegarden]

RT apps are, still, not as good as the desktop versions.

 

[hotphil]

RT apps are, still, not as good as the desktop versions.

You'd have to define "good".

 

[gwinegarden]

You'd have to define "good".

Functionality.

 

[hotphil]

For 99% of users in any workplace I've encountered, the functionality they need is all there in Modern apps.
Of course, Bob on Reception is unlikely to need to configure his Excel with links to an Oracle db for his VB macro to output a pivot table in another workbook, but I do understand some users might.
Bob doesn't need more than RT apps. And would benefit from not being bogged down with stuff he doesn't need. He ain't got time for that, he's a busy man.

 

[astondg]

Functionality.

I think this mostly comes down to the app developer. Yes, the WinRT APIs have restrictions that the full .NET & Win32 APIs don't, but in a lot of cases that just means doing things in a different way to achieve the same result.

I'm not saying that's true in all cases but I know as a developer I started on the WinRT platform hitting restrictions everywhere but as I get used to the platform I'm continually finding it less of a problem & actually seeing benefits over Win32.

 

[gwinegarden]

I think this mostly comes down to the app developer. Yes, the WinRT APIs have restrictions that the full .NET & Win32 APIs don't, but in a lot of cases that just means doing things in a different way to achieve the same result.

I'm not saying that's true in all cases but I know as a developer I started on the WinRT platform hitting restrictions everywhere but as I get used to the platform I'm continually finding it less of a problem & actually seeing benefits over Win32.

I was thinking, more, about Microsoft's own apps. IE, Outlook (including People, Calendar and Mail), etc. They just are poor compared to the desktop versions.

 

[astondg]

I was thinking, more, about Microsoft's own apps. IE, Outlook (including People, Calendar and Mail), etc. They just are poor compared to the desktop versions.

As I said though I think that comes down to the developer (in this case Microsoft) rather than a limitation in WinRT. They have chosen not to implement certain features, or at least not yet. I don't think People, Calendar & Mail were intended to replace Outlook directly.

As with many desktop apps Outlook also has years of continued development over the WinRT variants so there's an element of time that needs to be considered too. It will be interesting to see how the new Outlook app in Windows 10 fairs.

Maybe that's your point? The WinRT apps need time? I was thinking in terms of a platform.

 

[gwinegarden]

As I said though I think that comes down to the developer (in this case Microsoft) rather than a limitation in WinRT. They have chosen not to implement certain features, or at least not yet. I don't think People, Calendar & Mail were intended to replace Outlook directly.

As with many desktop apps Outlook also has years of continued development over the WinRT variants so there's an element of time that needs to be considered too. It will be interesting to see how the new Outlook app in Windows 10 fairs.

Maybe that's your point? The WinRT apps need time? I was thinking in terms of a platform.

You are correct. These apps really have nothing to do with RT, per se. They are on my workstation, as well. My issue is this idea that they will remove desktop apps from RT and leave us with only the crappy Metro/Modern versions. I thought that they might improve them, first, but now that they have lost interest in RT, I wonder what will happen.

 

[Don Geronimo]

I thought that they might improve them, first, but now that they have lost interest in RT, I wonder what will happen.

There is indeed less interest in the Windows 8 RT for consumer devices like the Surface RT and Surface 2, but the foundation created from them are still living on.

Though Microsoft's apps in the technical previews are still works in progress, I'm optimistic about how things are forming. Truly resizable snaps, for example, from the Office Preview apps on W10TP, have made my workflows surprisingly customizable, not to mention they work wonderfully at their current preview state. Unless I need to use Access for the odd here-or-there or some custom macro in Excel, I pretty much use the Universal App versions of Office all the time.