How to create an app for Windows XP using Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8

Question

I have very little knowledge on apps for Desktop.

I created a Simple app for Windows 8 using the free Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 (in C#, XAML).

Now I am wanting that app to run on other Windows platforms like Windows XP, Windows 7 etc. I understand, that Metro apps can't run on Windows 7 or XP, but All I want is stripped down version of my app which runs on Windows 7 and XP as well.

I am looking for options like Project->News->Target Windows XP... I also have another question, Can we use XAML,.CS approach even for Windows XP.

How can I port my existing Windows 8 app to WIndows XP, 7 with minimal effort and using C# and making use of current set up ( Visual Studio Express 2012) ?

Answer 1

First of all choose .Net Framework 4.0 as a target framework. (This window appears after clicking create new project)

You can either choose WPF application or Windows Forms Application. But WPF is recommended if you know how to work with .Xaml

Answer 2

In order to get your app to run on Windows 7 and Windows 8 you need to:

1. To set your Target to .Net 4.0.

   File->New->Project

   At the top of the dialog there is a list that allows you to select the framework.

   see this link

2. Make sure the .Net 4.0 Framework is installed on the machines you wish to deploy to.

   see this link

3. If you want the framework to distribute with your app so you don't have to install the framework on each machine,

   see this link .

Answer 3

To develop applications for Windows XP or similar, you need to download and install a special edition of Visual Studio 2012 Express, named for Windows Desktop,

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/products/visual-studio-express-for-windows-desktop

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/09/12/visual-studio-express-2012-for-windows-desktop-is-here.aspx

Don't use the so called " for Windows 8 ", as that can only create Windows Store Apps.