Got my windows phone 8 dev fees refund

I received yesterday the 91% refund of my windows phone 8 dev fees.
While I was afraid to receive it in 2013, Microsoft was not so slow on this one.
I still don't understand why I didn't pay 8$ only, without the need for a refund. Perhaps to select who can register..?
Or to avoid to handle different price for different people ?

Anyway, it's now time to make my vmware image of Windows 8.
I hope VS and the emulator will support it.

Finally, Windows Phone 8 is perhaps a good thing

Friday, I was at the Windows 8 dev camp in Microsoft's French office.
I went because I was looking for an answer to this question : why does Microsoft made something like Windows 8 ?

I think I came back with an answer : they're trying to mix PC, tablet and mobile.
When I say to mix I mean to keep the same UX on both.

I like this idea.

I also like the fact they're working with manufacturers so they move this idea to hardware : you can now buy TRUE tablets, not only gadget like the ipad.

So what ? Tablet PC isn't a new thing.
Yes, of course. But this time, it's tablet with the power of a pc, not a pc with a touch screen, a device with OS made for touch screen (and keyboard/mouse) not touch adapted to OS.

We talk here of what could be called Global User eXperience.

Apple made a (really good) work to give user a great experience on macbook, they also made the same kind of great work on ux with iThing but they didn't think global : MacOSX is not iOS and iOS isn't MacOSX.

For Google, they missed to make GoogleOS another global success. It's a shame because they won't be able to fight with the same weapons.

So I think Microsoft have now the capabilities to fight hard with Android.
Apple will soon fall because hype won't be enought on the coming years.

Don't take it wrong, I'm not saying Microsoft will be the next winner.
I said that, at this point, we have 2 competitors.
The winner isn't known yet and challengers could (re)appear to trouble the game.

Google fights with an messy OS available on a lot of devices including tablet, phone, notebook and TV but not PC in work office.
Microsoft fights with a OS for dummy, hiding a true OS you can switch to when needed, available on tablet, phone, notebook and PC but not TV.
So who is the leader ?
Google could clean their os to be as simple as iOS while Microsoft could move to TV (with the help of the next xbox ? Xbox and TV on a same device ?).

I see here a war between home (android) and office (windows).
It's a challenge because "basic" home consumers changed the world some times ago buying a mass of iOS devices, and killing RIM and Symbian.

I can't wait to see who will move first !
A very interesting year is coming and, yes, you have to count now with Windows Phone 8.

First day with Windows Phone 8

This week, Microsoft made Windows Phone 8 public.
After a private WP8 SDK which was badly received in september, the official public SDK is now available.

I so thought it was the good time to start exploring Windows Phone dev world.
I tried some weeks ago, to be ready for public release but it was almost impossible to find info on WP8.
So, to be true, my first attempt gave me a bad feeling : Microsoft is now ruled by market people, no tech people....else how do you explain they retain information "to generate as much Windows Phone 8 excitement as possible" (cf blog post)...Cool the new WP8 is so much fun but...wait ? where are the apps ? there are coming soon because developers discovered the app at the same time that the normal user/consumer !

Anyway, I tried again...because I learnt from my past bad feeling (iOS), you coud finally find something great under the black curtain.

Step 1 : Register
So I registered as the Individual developer, for only 8$ and using Paypal (great !)
Well..it's not really 8$...it's 99$ and Microsoft will give you back 91$ later ....when ? I don't know ... why not directly pay only 8$ ? I don't know....Why only for new devers and not previous ? I don't know
Ask Microsoft....
I also must be careful because it's seen the renewal is automatic so if WP8 isn't interesting, I should find how to stop this automatic access to my paypal account.
Oh, and if you're looking for the rules about the 8$ registration, follow this link, because it's not easy to find on WP8 home page...

Step 2 : Download the SDK
The SDK is available, as usual with Microsoft, is available like a small .MSI or a full .ISO
It's great because you could download the full ISO to keep it somewhere (keeping older versions of SDK is a must do !)
BUT, like for iOS, you should upgrade your OS...yes, you need Windows 8
And here comes my first problem : like everyone knows, a Microsoft OS is usable only from the SP1 version...so it's just not possible I install Windows 8 beta public release on ly system...and lost all my programs and drivers
But wait, I need a new PC because my old one isn't strong enought for WP8 dev : 4Go RAM, 64bit OS and CPU which support SLAT (for emulation I suppose)
So 8$ to register + 1000$ for a PC ? Better than Apple but still a robbery
So I donwloaded SDK for 7.1 ... but it still waiting for installation since I don't see the point to use it (perhaps to gain at least 8$?)

Step 3 : Create a seller account
If you want to sell app on the WPStore, you have to create a seller account or, to be more exact, submit a tax profile form.
Honestly, I tried...but the form crashes every 2 attempts and, in final, I wasn't able to valid because it asked for a U.S. taxpayer identification number
1 - I'm not from USA
2 - I'm filling a non-US seller form
3 - the 'see instructions' just points nowhere
So I can't sell anything on Windows Phone Store....but perhaps I missed something because this form is just to legal for me (I'm a developer, not a lawyer!)

Step 4 : Create an in-app ads account
It's not clear if you could only use Microsoft Ads systems or not (will my apps be refused if I use Adfonic ?), so I tried to register to pubCenter.
This was easy but I soon discover another no-go details : while you can pay using Paypal to register as a developer, while you can receive your money using Paypal if you're an app seller...you can't receive mony throught Paypal using Microsoft's pubCenter.
Only check and bank wire...sorry but check don't work in France and I hate giving my bank info to someone like Microsoft or Apple.

So....I paid 8$, I downloaded a SDK I can't use to make app I can't sell or earn money from....
VERY VERY VERY bad start !

note : I make it late at night so perhaps I missed some points but, in that case, there were none clearly available