I have several older WinForm apps that utilized the CSLA 1.x and 2.x frameworks. They are showing their age and need updating (if nothing else - so I can get rid of my VM that I have setup to run VS2003 and associated components!).
There's been a lot of talk since BUILD about how Metro/WinRT is the future of Windows development, but from what little I've seen so far, it seems very similar to Silverlight - running in a limited subset of .NET that doesn't give you full access to the PC.
Unfortunately, the applications I'm looking at updating communicate with numerous client-side devices. Examples - scales, coin sorters, custom industrial printers, cash drawers, receipt printers, etc.
I was prepared to jump all-in and migrate these apps to WPF/MVVM, but I hate to invest development resources/dollars in a technology that Microsoft considers now seems to consider "legacy". However, I don't see many other options on the table.
Thoughts? Or am I making much ado about nothing?
Rocky has detailed some of the differences Metro will make in some other posts. If you start building your apps now as WPF/MVVM you should be in good shape. These applications would still work as Desktop Apps in Windows 8 and porting them would mostly be on the GUI/XAML side of things.
Rocky details it in his blog.
http://www.lhotka.net/weblog/WhyMVVM.aspx
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