The About page is one of the highest trafficked pages on a site. People look here to see if your company has the talent to meet their needs. If they’re not satisfied with who you are, they may not navigate to additional pages and you’ll lose a conversion. So brag a little…toot your own horn…have others toot your horn and don’t be afraid to get a little personal.

When bragging, I mean describing the accomplishments of your organization, make sure that you tie these accomplishments to what you can do for prospective clients. If the journey of how you got where you are today is impressive, briefly inform your visitor of that history and its key milestones.  Include awards and acknowledgments your projects have received and don’t forget to update these as they come in. If you haven’t received an award since 1995, it may be best to not include that one. It will look as though you were great last century but haven’t kept up with the times. If your organization is involved in the community this is a good place to show off your big heart.

Have you worked with some big players in your industry? Let them tell prospects how amazing you are too. Other people reinforcing your accomplishments will boost your credibility in the marketplace. Testimonials are even more effective when they come from recognizable names. If the person or company name may not be recognizable, add a photo or company logo to help personalize the statement.

Last tidbit of advice: Stop the snooze-fest by showing some personality! Humanize your company by deformalizing the copy. Use attention grabbing adjectives and verbs to make your information fun to read.  Many corporations may be leery of moving the tone to a personal feel. If that is the case, A/B test and take note of the difference in conversions as well as time spent navigating to additional pages. Showing personality is especially important if you are the brand (i.e. web designer, consultant). Having a video for your About page is a unique way to speak to your audience if you are the brand.

Whether you are a large corporation or working from your garage, people still want to know why they should pick you. So, be sure to use pizazz while substantiating your expertise in order to stand out from the crowd.

Heather Schmidt, Account Development Executive, W3i, LLC

Heather provides value to W3i’s partners by continually focusing on optimization and growth strategies. 

Have you ever made a download or install decision based on the quality of the app icon? I’ll be the first to confess that in a time where apps are becoming more and more abundant, where you have the choice of hundreds of thousands of apps, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out and find a useful app. Much like in speed-dating, users will make decisions in a matter of seconds, especially considering the mobile context and our increasing demand for instant gratification.

Arguably, the quality of your app icon will increase the chances that users will give your app a fair shot and (hopefully) fall in love with what it offers behind the scenes. In other words, if you put together your app icon without much thought and effort, the chances of a user choosing your app versus skipping it for the next one are close to nil. Does that mean a quality app icon equals a quality app? Certainly not. The same is true for the inverse. However, it will most likely make users at least explore your app in more depth and lead to an install for further evaluation.

So, what does a quality app icon look like? There are plenty of app icon tutorials and resources out there on the net, some better than others. Michael Flarup (on his PixelResort site) has put together one of the better set of guidelines for app icon design (even though it’s a little dated) and I won’t rehash any of it here. The only thing I would augment is the “Stand out from the crowd” section. While Michael shows some good examples, we can push the envelope a bit more. I’ve seen some great concepts come through on Dribbble, a site where some of the top designers hang out and show off their latest works. Here is a small sampling from some work featured on Dribble of how your app icon can stand out even more:

Examples of App Icons that Stand Out

Unfortunately, there is not much, if any, data on what types of icons actually work better in the various app stores. It would be nice to run some A/B testing and get a better understanding. Regardless, making your icon look great is likely a step in the right direction (don’t skimp on the value the actual app provides either). Remember, first impressions matter.

What are your favorite app icons?  Feel free to post in the comments.

David May, Director of Creative Services; W3i, LLC
David has been working in the design industry for over 9 years and carries a fancy B.F.A. with focus in Graphic Design. He’s a native of Germany and loves peanut m&m’s. about everything related to the web and design in general.

What are your favorite app icons?

Localizing your iOS app can have a major impact on game revenue. Read on to find out how:

What is localization?
Localization is simply the process of translating your product into different languages for a specific country or region.

Why localize your app?
Localizing your app can make a huge difference in growing a loyal fan base in other countries.  The Apple App Store is available in over 120 countries with support for 40 languages.  Support for international payments, currency, and more, is already built in to the App Store.  So taking your app global is a great way to increase revenue and the process is probably more straight forward than you think.  Let’s take a look at how to bring your app to the global market place with localizations.

Getting started
The first step is to figure out which countries you are interested in marketing to.  Up to date sales data by country is difficult to come by.  That said, a good place to start is with populous countries with minimal english speaking people, who love technology.  Examples include, Japan, Korea, China, and France.  There are some sites on the web that show trends.  It pays to check this out periodically. My own research for a free ad-funded app (released earlier this year) yielded the top countries as  Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan,  Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and Russia.

Once you’ve figured out which countries you want to market to, the next step is to choose the languages for your app.  Usually country to language is 1 to 1 but that’s not always the case.  For example, there are 10 languages associated with China or Chinese.  So it pays to do some research on the country you will be targeting and figure out which language(s) make the most sense for your app.  In my case I focused on two languages for China, simplified script and traditional script.

Translating your copy
Probably the toughest aspect of localizing your app is to acquire the actual translated copy.  You can gather translations for common text items like Cancel, Ok, Continue, Back, Close, etc. by simply changing the language on your iOS device and take note of the translation for these common text items.   Using the same translation as iOS itself really helps the user and keeps your app consistent with the operating system.

For less common words and simple phrase translations, many developers use Google Translate or some other on-line translation service.  This can be problematic if you need more complex sentences or phrases translated.  Poorly translated phrases may actually hurt more than help by confusing or even insulting the user.

By far the best approach to translating your copy is to use a professional translation service.  There are a variety of translation services marketed on the web.  You probably want to focus on those that specialize in working with iOS apps.  Companies with a focus on iOS app translation often provide good documentation or tools that make the process of setting up your app for localization easier.  In most cases you can get an online estimate by pasting your copy into a form.

Tips for Localizing your App
The process for localizing your app is fairly straight forward.  Apple’s developer documentation provides a complete set of programming topics that will guide you through the process.  There are a few common pitfalls to avoid.

Complete your app (especially the user interface) before localizing.  Once you begin creating localized versions of your windows, views menus, etc., if you change the arrangement of screen items, you will find yourself tweaking multiple files (one for each language).  Completing your app also ensures that you will have all the text you need translated. Remember to include any online help text that you link to from your app in your copy for translation.

Consider alerts and dynamic text for translation as well, not just the text you see when views first load.

If your app references any locale or region formatted information like time, date, currency, or other numerical values, remember to use the locale settings of the device in calculations and text you display dynamically.  For example, if you calculate and display miles per gallon in the United States,  be prepared to calculate and display Kilometers Per Gallon if the user’s locale is set as such.

Avoid having graphics that contain text.  For example, if you use a custom button background and the title for the button is included as part of the image, you will need a version of that graphic for each language.  You can save time by keeping text out of the graphic and use the title property for text instead.

Sound files that contain spoken text will need to be available for each supported language.

One key decision is whether you will also provide translated App Store meta data (app description, etc).  This is something you need to figure out before you go live because adding localized meta data requires you submit a new version to the App Store.

Consider starting with localizing your app for one or two countries and bringing more on later.   If your product roadmap includes expanding features in later versions,  you can move additional translation costs to those versions and justify the expense based on sales in additional markets.

Testing your App
It’s important to test your app with your test device setup for each supported language.  Compared to English, most other languages will result in more characters for any given word or phrase.  You may need to adjust the size of some of your UI controls to accommodate the increased length of a word or phrase.

If possible, add testers from your target countries.  Ask for feedback specifically as it relates to translations.

Hmmm, I’m not sure just yet
Even if your still on the fence about bringing your app to international markets by localizing your app you can still help yourself by taking some basic steps in your app development right now.  Start by reading through Apple’s developer documentation as it relates to localization and internationalization.   You’ll discover, when beginning the development of your app, that you can take some simple steps that will make localizing your app later much easier and cost less.

Patrick Brennan, Senior Software Developer

Apple’s development certificate stuff can be difficult to understand, and after I recently explained it to a new team member I thought it would be a valuable topic for others.  Some of this is documented well on Apple’s site, but I will go through it and focus more on the parts that I found unintuitive.

You can download Xcode for free and start creating apps and experimenting with the iPhone/iPad simulators right away.  If you want to put anything onto a device, however, you will need to purchase a developer license from Apple.  (Note: A device is required for things like testing In-App Purchases, Push Notifications and Location Services.)

After you sign up as a developer, you have access to the developer provisioning portal where you can request a development and distribution certificate.  Apple’s site does a good job of walking through most of this process.

How to create a development/distribution certificate:

1. Generate  a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) with a public key
• In your Applications folder, open the Utilities folder and launch Keychain Access.
• Choose Keychain Access > Certificate Assistant >Request a Certificate from a Certificate Authority.
• In the Certificate Information window, enter or select the following information
• In the User Email Address field, enter your email address
• In the Common Name field, enter your name
• In the Request is group, select the Saved to disk option
• Click Continue
• The Certificate Assistant saves a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) file to your Desktop.
• The public/private key pair will be generated when you create the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) if you use the Key Chain Assistant to create the CSR.
2. Submit the CSR through the Provisioning Portal to the Admin for approval.
• Click the Distribution/Development tab
• Upload the certificate by choosing the file
• Click Submit

Once the certificate processes and downloads you can double-click it to add it to the Keychain (the login keychain by default), the part that is not clear is that this certificate is tied to the computer where you requested it.  If you ever want to sign an app with the certificate on another computer (or another OS on the same computer), you need to export your identity from Keychain Access.  The export process is pretty simple and creates a “Personal Information Exchange” (.p12) file that can be copied to another computer:

Apple's Keychain - Simple Export Process Creating a "Personal Information Exchange"

If you have e a team with multiple developers that could potentially submit an app to the App Store, then exporting the identity is a critical step. This allows other team members to import that distribution identity, download the distribution certificate and provisioning files, and sign the app for testing or submission (Ad Hoc or App Store).

Once you have a developer certificate you can activate any iOS device for debugging:

1. connect the device via USB
2. run Xcode
3. open the Organizer (Window->Organizer in Xcode)
4. go to the devices tab
5. Control-Click on your device in the list
6. select “Add Device to Provisioning Portal”

Xcode will take care of requesting a development provisioning profile (iOS Team Provisioning Profile), and install it on your device.

The next thing you’ll want to try is Creating an App ID, but be careful here – once created, an App ID cannot be changed or deleted. The App ID is comprised of a description, a prefix, and the bundle id. The bundle id is something like com.domainname.appname, and the bundle prefix can be left alone unless you are creating a suite of applications that need to
work together.  A few pieces of advice:

1. lowercase bundle id - The App ID is case sensitive, so it’s best to eliminate confusion/mistakes by sticking to all lowercase.
2. unique description - The common name (description) field shows up in a few different drop-downs, and if you create two that are similar it  can be a pain to keep them separate.
3. double check before submit – As I said earlier, this is permanent.  A misspelling here isn’t customer facing, but it can be annoying and confusing for other teammates.
4. beware enter key - The default action for the enter key is to submit.  I accidentally found this out after I entered the Description, but before I had entered the bundle id…  Duh! So now we have an empty bundle id with a valid-looking description.

Once you have an App ID you can create provisioning profiles for that app.  There are three types of provisioning profile:

1. Development - Now that Xcode manages a default development profile you shouldn’t have to worry about this.
2. Ad Hoc - This is for distributing to coworkers or team members that may need to see or test the app. If they are not registered as developers on the same account, then their device UDIDs need to be manually entered.
3. App Store - Used only for final submission to the App Store

Revoking

If you didn’t export the identity (.p12) files, and the original computer that created the Certificates is lost or wiped, you can Revoke the existing certificates and create new ones. Unfortunately this requires updating all of the active Distribution Profiles.  It’s not difficult, but depending on the number of apps it can be a tedious process.  To do this go to the Distribution tab of the Profiles section, and click Edit -> Modify next to each profile. The Modify page will not let you Submit the profile unless you make a change, so usually I just add a space to the profile name.  Once the profiles are processed they can be downloaded and added to any computer with access to the distribution identity (.p12) file.

Hopefully, this saves you a ton of stress and time.  Do you have any additional feedback on  Apple Development Certificates?   if so,
add it in the comments.

Tony Feick. Senior Software Developer

On March 14, 2011, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 (IE9). The look and feel changed with the information bar moving to the bottom of the browser and the search bar being integrated into the address bar. But overall, the change in user functionality is what affected add-ons the most. This change also created a very different experience for the user in terms of what they have to do to use add-ons after they install them.

IE9 asks for the user’s consent to enable newly installed add-ons, instead of automatically enabling them from the start:

IE9 Asks for User Consent to Enable Add-ons

When the user clicks Enable, they are shown this screen:

User Must Now Enable Add-Ons

This could lessen the chance of the user actually being able to use the add-on that they installed. They may click Don’t enable or they may just X out of the message completely because they don’t understand what it is or they are annoyed by the messaging.

IE9 also gives the user information on what is slowing down their browser and messages them on a regular basis asking them to speed up their browser by disabling add-ons:

Users Asked to Disable Add-Ons to Speed Up Startup

When the user clicks Disable add-ons, they are shown this screen:

Screen Shown to User When They Click Disable Add-ons

If the add-ons the user has installed and enabled total a load time of more than .2 seconds, the add-ons will show up on this list and the user may choose to disable them. This new functionality helps speed up the user’s browser, but it can also cause the user to want to uninstall all add-ons listed whether or not they really contribute to slowing down their browser.

On November 8, 2011, Mozilla released Firefox 8 (FF8).   This new version adds a new confirmation prompt for add-ons.  This prompt is different depending on whether or not the add-on is installed via an XPI or an EXE.

When an add-on is installed via an XPI, FF8 displays a modal dialog box with an Install Now button:

Modal Dialog Box with an Install Now Button

The user has to click Install Now to enable the add-on(s).  If they click cancel, the add-on(s) will not be enabled for use.

When an add-on is installed via an EXE, FF8 opens a new tab with a checkbox confirmation screen:

Add-on Installed via EXE, FF8 Opens Checkbox Confirmation Screen

By default, the checkbox is not checked, so the user has to check the box next to Allow this installation and then click Continue to be able to use the add-on.  If the user doesn’t check the box and clicks Continue, the add-on will not be enabled.

With the changes these new browser versions bring, it seems that the ultimate goal is speed. Each browser wants to be the fastest. These changes can be seen as both positive and negative for users.  As a positive, users may have a faster browser and not have to wait as long for load times.  As a negative, they have to take additional steps to “enable” add-ons that they have already agreed to install and in some cases, they have agreed multiple times through certain processes that confirm the user is installing what they want to install.

These changes can also be seen as both negative and somewhat positive for add-on developers. As a negative, these changes make it harder for an add-on developer because users have to take additional steps to be able to actually interact with their add-ons.  As a positive, with survival becoming harder and harder for add-ons, it encourages developers to make sure their add-on has a fast load time and it creates enough value so the user will want to take the necessary steps to enable the add-on for use.  However, even with those changes, it doesn’t ensure that the user will “enable” their add-on.  Another alternative for add-on developers might be exploring the options of building out a desktop version of the add-on so the application isn’t affected by any of these changes.

Overall, sometimes change is good and sometimes it’s not so good.  As things change though, we have to roll with those changes and allow ourselves to make the best of them.  We will just have to wait and see what comes next! Do you have any tactics to deal with browser changes?  If so, add them to the comments.

Nicole Virnig, Account Development Manager, W3i, LLC
Nicole focuses on growing W3i business relationships, making sure the  client has what they need to make them successful. If they aren’t  happy, she isn’t happy.

With the recent news of the bucket load of funding W3i is investing in developers’ applications there is a lot of interest in the AppX service. One of the features of the service is the free production support. Sounds awesome but what do you actually get out of it? I am one of the Producers at W3i’s Recharge that offers this free “production support” so I’ll let you in on what goes on in what I’ll call “Recharge Studios Freemium Playbook Sessions” where I’ll present a brief example of one of the playbook elements. Here goes:

Social Freemium Playbook Session 1: Envy  

Your game should allow for the purchase and display of content to create envy between players. The best way to apply envy is to set high price points to special items in your virtual store for customization of a player’s character or world. These special items should have an outlet to display this character to other competing users and friends. These friends see your high priced item and know that you paid big money either by playing a lot and earning your way to purchase or by making a premium purchase.

Much like a leader board that encourages players to “beat” their friends, this will create an opportunity for users to try to earn enough currency to purchase the high-priced item to compete with their friends. Additionally, this item could have a modifying affect on your game such as increasing income by 10% during an income cycle or it could have no affect other than visual stimuli.

Here is an example from SkyVu’s Battle Bears Royale, a Recharge partner.

Users begin with a basic character skin for Oliver. He looks pretty good here, but this is the character everyone starts with. The user wants to differentiate themselves.

Users Want to Differentiate Themselves - Start with a Basic Character

No here is an impressive look that will stand out from the crowd.  It is a little spendy so opponents will know how serious the user is about Battle Bears. Since the user already made a premium purchase, he has plenty of joules to spend.

Personalized Characters Indicate the User is Serious About the Game

Battle Bears Royale offers an obvious outlet for displaying this envious bear design to opponents in the live online battle arena. Even if the user doesn’t run into every player, since he disposed of an opponent, his icon appears on the right hand side of the screen for all competitors to see.

Icon Also Shows on Right Hand Side of Screen

At the end of the battle there is another opportunity to see who just dominated the competition with nine kills. It was JIMIVG33 and he has the awesome O.C.O Oliver skin that costs 400,000 joules.

Heat up competition with prominent scoreboard.

There you have it. Envy created by a premium purchase and an outlet to display the item to other users. Stay tuned for the next Social Freemium Playbook Session!

Jimi Van Guilder, Producer, Recharge Studios, W3i, LLC
Jimi is a mobile content expert with a decade of experience working with brands that include Nickelodeon, the NFL, NBC, Marvel, Snoop Dogg and LucasArts. Jimi heads up production at W3i’s wholly owned publishing arm and investment fund, Recharge Studios.

How important is system uptime to your customers? At W3i, we feel that it is of upmost importance that our systems are always up and running. This was one of the driving factors for our data center move back in March of 2010 (see related blog post here).
The move to the new data center was a much needed refresh to help strengthen our systems. Let’s be realistic, can anyone ever be up 100% of the time? We all strive for that, but system failure and human error will find a way to bring you down.

What if Bob made a change to an application that he didn’t realize would have an adverse effect on another system that Jane maintains? Or if Bill added a new feature to his application, but wasn’t aware of the system resources required to support the new feature? The new feature add resulted with everything slowing down due to CPU overload.

In the fast paced MVP to full blown product business we are in, issues like this come up all the time. How can one keep track of all these ties to identify when issues come up?

That’s easy, documentation right? Let’s be real though, who reads documentation? We should also remember that documentation is only as good as the contents freshness and relevance. Truth is no matter how much documentation, how many procedures are in place or how much testing goes into something; Murphy’s Law will always show its ugly head every now and again. So how do we make sure that everything is working and functioning as it should and there are no issues with your sites or systems?

That’s where system monitoring comes in. There are a plethora of different monitoring solutions available on the market today and each has their unique capabilities and offerings. Is there one holistic solution out that will fill all your needs? The answer is, probably not. You’ll likely have to piece together your monitor solution with several tools. Once you start to get all your systems covered you’ll begin to fill in the black holes of the unknown with visibility into the function resources that make up your infrastructure.

We at W3i utilize multiple monitoring solutions to try and grasp every aspect of every system and or application. We monitor CPU, memory, disk, and network utilization with Solarwinds Orion NPM while leveraging Solarwinds’ other modules such as Application Performance Monitoring (APM) to monitor services, exe’s and perfmon data and Netflow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) to monitor the bits that are traveling our network. To watch website availability we use a solution from ExclamationSOFT called WebWatchBot that hits our web properties and makes sure specified search terms are present along with a status code we are expecting users to get. We also use WhatsUpGold from IPSwitch to monitor our external availability. Then there are other applications specific monitoring solutions such as Quest Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL and some customer made monitoring utilizing Microsoft PowerShell and the list goes on and on.

From our experience there isn’t a holist solution, but by using many different solutions you should get the full coverage needed to monitor and maintain all aspects of your infrastructure. The goal in any alerting/monitoring solution should be to help keep you informed about potential issues proactively before they become problems. There is nothing worse than getting notified of issues from others outside of the group whom take pride in maintaining the systems. Leave a comment if you found a great solution for system monitoring.

Brad Gocken, Manager of Information Technology, W3i.  Brad has more than 11 years of working experience in IT related fields. He is from Minnesota and loves learning about new technologies. He also enjoys brewing and drinking craft beer.

With Windows 8, Microsoft is taking a dramatic change in how users interact with Windows; centered on the Metro interface and application environment.  Here’s what I learned at the Microsoft Build Conference in Anaheim, California as Microsoft revealed the latest incarnation of Windows, namely Windows 8.

In Windows 8, Metro is a replacement for the Start Menu, and the normal desktop view of Windows.  When a user first logs into Windows 8, the first thing they see is the Metro interface with application tiles on the interface that are similar to the tiles seen on Windows Phone 7; these tiles are called “Live Tiles”.  Besides being interfaces to the specific application, they can display information relative to their function on the tile themselves.  For example, a weather app could display your current weather location, the Twitter app could show the latest tweets, and so on.

The Windows 8 Start screen in developer preview version (Build 8102.winmain_win8m3.110912-1733.92eb4451821f0730). It was released at the Build Windows event. Source: Wikipedia

Microsoft is heavily pushing the Metro interface; it appears that they want to use the current base of Windows-based systems to incorporate Metro, rather than having it limited solely to low-powered tablet-based systems.  Microsoft is betting that touch will be everywhere in a few years; much like the age of computers changed when the mouse was introduced.  They are counting on the fact that touch will have the same effect; every system, every monitor, will be touch enabled.  With that context, their promotion of Metro makes sense for the future of Windows.

Touch

Metro is really meant for a touch interface.  Touching a tile opens the application; swiping on the main interface scrolls the available tiles. Swiping from the right edge in any application brings what Microsoft terms “Charms”, which gives access to sharing, search, configuration options and the like. Swiping from the left edge switches between running applications; swiping from the bottom or top of an application will bring menu options available from that application.
The Metro interface is definitely a touch interface; with a touch-enabled screen it is “fluid and fast” as Microsoft described it many times during the conference.  At the same time, however, it turns into a second-rate interface with a mouse and keyboard; much like touch on the classic desktop is not ideal, keyboard and mouse on the Metro interface does not feel ideal.  Granted, many things may change before the release of Windows 8, however, I hope the interface translates better than it does currently.

The classic desktop is still there as a tile on the main Metro window.  All applications that currently run on Windows 7 should work fine under Windows 8; when those applications are launched they open on the classic desktop and work as you would expect them to.  The classic desktop will be available on any x86 and x64 systems; however with the new ARM platforms that Microsoft is targeting (light tablets like the iPad and Android platforms), the classic desktop is rumored to not be available; the only interaction will be through the Metro interface.

Metro Environment

The best way to describe the environment that Metro applications run in is comparing it to current offerings of iOS and Android platforms.  Metro is a closed environment, given only what the Windows Runtime (WinRT) allows.  All apps work within a sandboxed environment; apps have their own storage area and temporary file location.  Any access outside of these areas is only through the user specifically selecting files outside of those environments; the Windows registry and random file access is not allowed.  There is limited interaction between apps; the only way to “share” content between apps is through the use of Contracts defined by Microsoft.  These contracts define what each application shares with other applications, either as a source or a target of those given contracts.  For example, one app might be able to share pictures with another app, or another might be a target for search queries within the application.
Applications are fully managed, much like the application lifecycles you see in iOS and Android platforms.  When an app is visible, it’s in its running state; if the user switches to another application, the former app will go into a suspended mode shortly; taking memory but not able to process any data.  Eventually if the memory needs to be freed, Metro will stop the application; these situations should be handled.

Access to external services, such as querying web services and such are all managed through WinRT.  Metro apps can define background processes for performing tasks and keep the application responsive, but as always, these are all managed by the system.  Any normal service, running under the normal Windows desktop or web service, cannot assume that the Metro app is actually in a running state so any requests should come from the metro app in polling those services.
All device interaction with the computer is also managed with WinRT and Metro; any request to device capabilities, like the camera or accelerometer data, must first be declared in the application manifest.  Additionally, user confirmation must be given when the application tries to access the device module; the user will be given an option to approve the access when the app tries to access the device.

Windows Store

Like the other operating systems mentioned, all Metro apps are solely distributed through the Windows Store.  Like Apple’s App Store, all apps within the Windows Store must be fully approved by Microsoft, matching Microsoft’s design specifications for Metro apps, as well as functionality.  Given that many of Microsoft’s customers are enterprise installations, they did say that there will be enterprise installation methods available (likely through Active Directory or the like); however for all home and individual installations, Metro apps are only installed through the store, and cannot be side-loaded.  There is no actual installation executable (exe or msi) for Metro apps; a metro app is essentially a signed package and manifest, which the Metro environment loads; no custom installation options are available.

As much as has been said about Metro, very little was said about the Windows Store itself.  The current build of Windows 8 has a live tile for the store, but it only is a placeholder and is not currently available.  As mentioned above, all Metro applications must be approved by Microsoft; while the length of this approval process is unknown, they did say that the entire process will be transparent as to what stage of the approval an app is in, as well as detailed explanations as to why an app was rejected, and what needs to be changed to allow it to be approved.  There will be pricing options available, although the license options and Microsoft’s portion of the sale was not described.  It was mentioned that classic desktop applications may be available in the store, however, full details aren’t available.  Microsoft will likely release more information concerning the store when it’s available.

Overall Windows 8 Experience

 As it stands right now, Windows 8 and the Metro interface is pre-beta software; it is very buggy and experimental.  Windows 8 should not be run on production or every-day use systems; you will experience crashes and hangs; to anyone that has run pre-release software this should come as no surprise.  It is possible to run Windows 8 on some virtualization software, although the performance leaves much to be desired, as most VMs have a very basic video card driver, and all of Metro uses DirectX to run.  I would suggest a dedicated piece of hardware if one is available.
Microsoft plans to follow the same release cycle they had with Windows 7; there will be one Beta and on Release Candidate (RC) before the Release to Manufacturer (RTM), with the retail version of Windows 8 coming in the Fall 2012.  Many things will change between then and now, including the items listed above.

For more information about Metro applications and Windows 8 subsystems, visit the Microsoft Windows 8 development site at http://dev.windows.com, and all the videos of the keynotes and sessions from the Build conference can be found at http://www.buildwindows.com.

Joel Braun, Senior Software Developer, W3i

Joel has more than 9 years experience in software development focusing on native Windows development in C++.

As a tech geek, I have a few go-to websites that I always use when I am in the market to buy a gadget for myself or a fellow geek. (I also use some browser extensions.)  Here are my favorites to help you with your holiday shopping for the geek on your holiday list.

How to Find Gifts for the Geek in Your Life

Computer Hardware: Newegg.com – This is my go to for anything with peripherals and components.  I also go to this site when I am bored for its entertainment value.

Geeky Gifts:  ThinkGeek.com - I go to this site to discover new tech gadgets. Family members know any gift from ThinkGeek is an awesome gift for me.

Mobile and Web Deals: pricegrabber.com – This is a great site for finding the most competitive price.  There is also a mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

iPad – http://itunes.apple.com/app/pricegrabber-ipad-edition/id363624354?mt=8

iPhone/iPod Touch – http://itunes.apple.com/app/pricegrabber/id341253803?mt=8

Android – https://market.android.com/details?id=com.pricegrabber.PGAndroid

Web Browser Add-ons: Priceblink.com – I use this in my Chrome browser.  It shows me competitive pricing and whether there are coupons available.  They also have it for Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and iPad.

Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aoiidodopnnhiflaflbfeblnojefhigh

FireFox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/priceblink/

Overall Choice: Amazon.com – I always cross-check prices and read reviews for anything I have a hankering to buy. I use Amazon to cross-check in-store prices and other shopping sites.  This coupled with AmazonPrime and the newly released Kindle Fire make Amazon the place to go. Why wouldn’t you buy it from Amazon if you can get free two day shipping? I now tend to buy from Amazon for almost anything since I can get it in two days.  I am a huge Android fan so I also check Amazon’s App Store for the free app a day.

We all develop our own shopping strategies as time goes on. I was visiting family this past weekend and I was shocked to see an Amazon box lying around the house. My parents always wanted to touch and feel products before they bought them but the times are changing. What are your go-to sites for buying the latest gadgets and components? Do you have any tips or gem sites to share?

Matt Brauchler, Business Intelligence Developer, W3i, LLC

Matt has over 7 years’ experience working in Information Systems. He is a Business Intelligence Developer for W3i with expertise in SQL, Data Warehousing, and Reporting. He is also a lawn perfectionist and enjoys learning new technology.

Know the Market

It used to be that Internet Explorer was by far the dominant web browser, but these days several other browsers such as Firefox and Chrome have increased market share significantly. Statistics vary and you may find different results depending on your audience, but the top 3 browsers are growing closer in market share, as Internet Explorer continues to lose users to Firefox, Chrome and even Safari. In October, 2011, technology site ars technica recently reported that Internet Explorer dropped below the 50% mark across all operating systems.

Browser Stats According to ars technica

Other sites such as w3schools.com  and Wikipedia give Internet Explorer an even smaller share so it is a good idea to track and monitor which browsers are more common among your users. A low reading with a particular browser can also indicate a problem with your add-on.

Usage is even more splintered when taking browser version into account. Internet Explorer remains split between the last 4 major versions while Firefox is even more spread out.  By contrast, most Chrome users are using the latest version because Chrome updates automatically.

Some of the top browser makers are increasing the frequency of updates. Mozilla announced earlier this year that it will move to a rapid release cycle, with new versions coming every 6 weeks. This is similar to Google’s release cycle for
Chrome. Meanwhile Microsoft appears to be sticking with a longer release cycle for Internet Explorer, with version 10 expected early in 2012.

Recent Browser Changes

Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 8 both introduced new confirmation prompts when add-ons are installed. This change raises a barrier for add-on distributors such as W3i’s InstallIQ. Although users go through the process and consent to install an add-on, they must consent again to accept the add-on the next time they use their browser.

IE9 displays an information bar at the bottom of the screen, and it may not be apparent to the user that it is there. Some users may miss it and after a few times IE will stop showing the bar and simply disable the add-ons. IE9 also added an Add-on Performance Advisor, which alerts the user when add-on load times exceed a certain threshold.

New Add-On Confirmation bar in IE 9

Firefox 8 has two types of add-on confirmation depending on how the add-on is installed. If you install your add-on using the common method of copying files into the Firefox extensions folder, then the confirmation prompt will open in a new tab when the browser is restarted. This prompt includes a checkbox which is unchecked by default, and is easily skipped by the user. Even worse, if multiple add-ons have been installed, Firefox will open multiple tabs, but as soon as one add-on is accepted, Firefox prompts the user to restart. Upon restarting, Firefox loses the other pending add-ons. This is a
significant barrier to installation processes that may install more than one add-on, such as InstallIQ.

New Checkbox Confirmation Tab in Firefox 8

Fortunately there is another method you can use, which should yield a higher rate of add-on enablement. You can package your add-on in an XPI file and install it on the Firefox command line. An XPI file is a Zip file containing the add-on components and an XML manifest. When add-ons are installed using the XPI method, Firefox displays a modal dialog with an “Install Now” button which is much more likely to be accepted by the user. In addition, multiple add-ons can be combined into a single install, with a single prompt to enable all of them.

New Add-on Confirmation in Firefox 8 for Add-Ons Distributed via XPI

InstallIQ now requires add-on partners to package their add-ons in XPI files so we can better manage the installation process. InstallIQ will automatically combine multiple XPI’s and install them by launching Firefox.

Looking Ahead

With browser updates coming at a faster rate and add-on installations becoming increasingly difficult for the user, it is important to keep an eye on forthcoming changes and be prepared to adjust your products.  Mozilla makes future Firefox releases available as they are being developed. They have a Beta channel for the next scheduled release, and the Aurora channel for changes that are further out.

Similarly, Google has multiple release channels which you can install for various platforms.

Meanwhile Microsoft is providing a preview of Internet Explorer 10. Microsoft has said that the Metro version of IE10 will not allow any add-ons, although the desktop version will.

Regardless of the nature of your add-on, it is more important than ever to streamline your development process and be ready to quickly make changes to adapt to the ever-changing browser platform.

Bill Zitomer, Software
Development Team Lead, W3i, LLC

Bill uses his over twenty years’ experience to build W3i’s core desktop products as well as back-end technologies.