Permission to Get Excited

Anticipation. It’s good to wait. It’s good to hold on and hold out for what’s coming down the road.

I’m talking now about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview that is released tomorrow February 29, 2012. Along with Visual Studio 11, this new version of Windows is entirely exciting. If you weren’t at the //build conference and haven’t seen the keynote by Steven Sinofsky, watch it now. If you were there or you’ve already watched it online, then watch it again just like you watch your favorite movie again just before the sequel is released in the theater.

Windows 8 is a no-brainer in my book. It provides developer joy as well as user joy. It’s compatible with a plethora of computers already in the hands of computers as well as new and exciting devices on the shelf at your local tech store. It runs everything that ran before. It looks great and has a robust design language ready to support extend and launch your own personal or corporate brand. It is smaller in memory and CPU footprint and it appears to be entirely fast and fluid.

In short, it’s not a lateral step to move to a new device with Windows 8. It’s not a new device with a new OS and a new login. It’s an extension. A leap forward. It’s just plain exciting.

So let’s get excited, and let’s start building great apps for Windows 8! Let me know if you need any resources for getting started or for getting integrated into your local developer community for education and support in the process. Follow me on Twitter at @codefoster or email me at jeremy dot foster at microsoft dot com.