Massachusetts-based ALM company Telerik has made the journey south to Microsoft's Orlando-located TechEd developer and user conference this week to preview its RadControls for Metro toolset.
Intended to sit on top of the Windows 8 SDK, Telerik's new tools are targeted at HTML and XAML developers who are building either enterprise or consumer apps for tablets or large screens.
Telerik's VP of its developer tools division Chris Sells asserts that his company is the "first again to equip developers with a powerful toolset" of this kind; Telerick also produces tools for Silverlight and Windows Phone. "Telerik's RadControls for Metro provides an invaluable jumpstart and path for enterprise-focused developers to fully explore all the options that the Windows 8 platform can offer," he stated.
The company does indeed have a history of XAML, HTML/JavaScript, and Windows Phone technologies, whether it can now successfully translate these competencies to help provide the "rich data visualization and slick interactivity" needed by the tablets and large screens that Metro is logically destined for remains to be seen.
But many of these still-emerging Windows 8 Metro-related technologies are arguably wrapped up in unnecessarily contorted language. Telerik talks of developers needing the ability to "extend UX design controls quickly and cost-effectively while applying established best practices" — what the company surely means is: getting Windows 8 apps to work and making users happy.
The company says that consumer app focused developers seeking to build "must-have functionality" and monetization will welcome the toolset's touch-centric UI, rich data browsing, and deep integration with other apps and data, while supporting user requirements for sharing on social networks — once again, put simply, stuff that makes Windows 8 really work.
