Microsoft Explains Metro Tiles in Windows 8

Microsoft seems to be going out of its way to make sure that Windows 8 for all devices goes off without a hitch. Now the company has been explaining all aspects of the upcoming OS to developers with the latest installment being about the Metro tiles we can expect to see on Windows 8. According to the company, the use of Metro tiles in the OS is about making the desktop OS in-line with its mobile OS.

Although some might say that the tiles make more sense on a mobile device, the company believes that it would be equally good on PCs. Because of that belief it has released more information to developers explaining to them how to better the consumer experience with Windows 8. The company insists that when users see “fun & interesting things on their tiles, they will be more likely to launch your app to learn more about it.” From the post by Microsoft, “There are 4 ways that an app can update its tile.

Apps can use local notifications to update their tile, which is useful if info changes while the app is running. Apps can schedule tile and toast updates to happen at precise times. Also, apps can use push or polling tile notifications to update their tiles from the cloud while they are not running.” On top of that, the company released a bit of code for the Metro tile which allegedly revolves around a food truck where users will be able to pin tiles to the taskbar and its movements can be tracked.

After the tile has been pinned, it becomes a secondary tile and real-time notifications will be sent to it. With the OS that is said to also feature in many upcoming smartphones and tablets coming up soon, it is our guess that the company is doing its best to ramp up the developers right now because once the flood gates open it might be hard to keep everyone in the same vicinity. Are you excited about Windows 8? Let us know with a comment below.