Visual Studio 2012 and Windows 8.1

Question

Now that I am Fully Updated to Windows 8.1 (Installed the full release TODAY of 8.1) as I purchased Visual Studio 2012 when Windows 8 released do I have to now Purchase Visual Studio 2013 just to write 8.1 Store apps? Or will there be a service pack/update for Visual Studio 2012.

Answer 1

Visual Studio 2013 is required to write Windows 8.1 apps.

You can upload and run Windows 8 apps on Windows 8.1. They should have the same behavior as on Windows 8 and will not have access to the new Windows 8.1 features.

--Rob

Answer 2

Hi John,

If you specifically want to target Windows 8.1, you will need to upgrade to Visual Studio 2013. However, you can still use VS 2012 and continue to target Windows 8.0. But you'll want to be sure you have the latest Update 4, which will address some known compatibility issues with Windows 8.1.

Sincerely,

---

Ed Dore

Answer 3

I knew you were going to say that .. I just really find it hard to find any reason to shell out another $600+ for Visual Studio 2013. I really do NOT see why VS 2012 is already dead in the water in terms of pushing the 8.1 Ecosystem. You guys did the same thing with 2012 with Windows Phone 8 as well just getting a little irritating.

Not to mention Jet brains Resharper upgrade for Visual Studio 2013 which is a coders must have tool :)

Answer 4

Hi John,

There will shortly be a $99 upgrade promotion for Visual Studio 2013 Professional. Visual Studio 2013 Express is free. See http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/buy . I can't help with Jet brains' product :)

--Rob

Answer 5

99$ is better than 499$ for Pro again :) Thanks for the heads up purchasing now ..

Answer 6

Actually does not show in the store yet do you happen to know when that will happen?

Answer 7

According to http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/buy it will be available in early November. I'll update my note here to say "shortly" instead of "currently" (sorry!).

For more information, see Visual Studio on the Microsoft Store in early November

--Rob

Answer 8

No problem I can just use express for now thanks for the help.

Answer 9

I'm only experiencing a similar problem now, almost a year later from this post! I'm thinking about installing my original win 8 pro using hyper-v and reinstalling vs2012 in that virtual environment...<fingers crossed for a smooth deployment>. By the way, update 4 did not address my issue, vs2012 still fails to start...