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Developers. Designers. Businesses.

Meet Windows.

Windows Store apps

Develop Windows Store apps

Get started building beautiful apps that are alive with activity and vibrant content.

Learn the basics

Get a developer account now

Get the Windows 8.1 downloads

Internet Explorer

Develop with IE

Discover why IE is perfect for building fast and fluid, touch-enabled web experiences.

Get the IE11 Developer Guide

F12 developer tools

IE11 compatibility tips

Windows Hardware

Develop Windows hardware

Learn how to build, debug and certify hardware and device drivers that work great with Windows.

Build Windows hardware

Submit for Windows certification

Get the Windows 8.1 downloads

Powerful tools, peerless principles

entry page for Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows 8.1

Visual Studio Express 2013

Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows 8.1 is a free, lightweight version of the powerful Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). Visual Studio Express is packaged with Blend, which now also helps you work with HTML5 and CSS3. Blend provides access to Windows controls and an integrated tool to profile user interfaces.

blue circles to represent cloud connectivity

Cloud-connected

Give users access to all of their photos, files, and friends at any time and on any device, using their Microsoft account. You can use Windows Azure to quickly build, deploy and manage applications and services, and your users can store and share files and communicate with the people most important to them using SkyDrive and Outlook.com.

build apps, fast

Build apps and games — fast

Start turning your ideas into apps. Take advantage of frameworks, resources, and tools from Microsoft and partners.

People tile example

Tiles are alive and connected

Through tiles on the Start screen, apps are alive with activity and can deliver vibrant content, even when they're not running. Using live tiles, your app can provide useful, at-a-glance data to the user, while minimizing battery usage. Windows Push Notification Services enables your app to receive messages and send them to your app's live tile or provide a notification to the user.


Product guide for developers

Opportunity. Unprecedented access to users worldwide. New tools and services. Imagine, build, and sell your app.

Resources for iOS developers

Don't just port your app. Reimagine your app, and take advantage of Windows 8.1 features.

 

Windows and Windows Phone apps

Choose an efficient approach for maximizing your development time.

Web standards and Internet Explorer

Design your websites using features based on established standards, such as HTML5, CSS3, and SVG.