Windows 8 may be getting ready for its Consumer Preview release on the last day of February, but the next PC operating system from Microsoft will also have some Metro apps that will either be pre-installed or available for download on Windows 8"s Microsoft Store. But what if the developers of those apps wanted to incorporate some web-based content in their programs?
In a new post on Microsoft"s IEblog web site, the company"s Andy Zeigler says that Metro app makers will be able to use Internet Explorer 10 in those apps. He states, "For example, the developer of a restaurant guide app might want to include a live map showing the locations of the list of restaurants the user is choosing from."
Zeigler says that if a Metro app creator wanted to put that kind of content in their software, " ... just include an iframe element or a WebView control to get the full benefit of IE 10 performance." The app will also be able to use a PC"s GPU to help boost any HTML-based graphics that are included in the web content.
Zeigler takes a bit of a shot at Apple"s iOS apps in the blog post, stating, "If you write an app on iOS, common actions like panning and zooming the map will run twice as slow in an app compared with Safari." The implication is that Metro apps on Windows 8 will not have that kind of an issue with Internet Explorer 10-based content.
Image via Microsoft