Programming in Windows 8

[Huck]

Howdy! I'm currently in the process of selling my old decrepit mac and setting up a new desktop. I've got all of my specs figured out, and the only thing left to do is choose an OS: win7 or win8. I've heard that using win7 is much better for developers and programmers (for now), but after a year or so, win8 will become the standard. Is there any truth to this? What are you using now?

P.S. I'm also planning on dual booting windows and linux.

[Cheraphy]

I'm running windows 8, and it is in no way different than developing on win7.

[AHCFan20]

It's pretty much the same as programming on Win7(or Vista, or XP, for that matter), except there is the addition of WinRT, which is something you can mostly ignore if developing store apps isn't your thing.

[NGen]

Just go for Windows 8. I also run on Windows 8, and my workflow hasn't changed in the slightest since the move from Windows 7. Except, of course, the improved boot times from 45 seconds in Windows 7 to 10 seconds in Windows 8.

[ryanpeppers]

i read somewhere that win 8 does not feature the win32 api. anyone know if this is true?

[chrisname]

Yes, it's true; there are no programs on Windows 8 at all because there's no way to interface with the OS.

[Lachlan Easton]

Don't be facetious chrisname; there ARE programs on Windows 8, they've just switched over to the linux kernel.

[chrisname]

While Linux now runs atop DOS.

[Dy7SLyTq]

LINUX RUNS ON DOS!!! WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?

[Cheraphy]

... I read 'atop' as 'atoi'

I felt you should know.

[LB]

I wonder when we'll get the Win64 API.

[z05DSL3A]

I wonder when it will be called Windows API by developers^* like it is suposed to be
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc433218%28VS.85%29.aspx

Overview of the Windows API wrote:

The Windows application programming interface (API) .... (Note that this was formerly called the Win32 API. The name Windows API more accurately reflects its roots in 16-bit Windows and its support on 64-bit Windows.)

^*That also includes Microsoft.