Windows 8 and the importance it pays to HTML5 and JavaScript has a profound effect on programmers immediately. It essentially signals the death of Silverlight. Here is a look the issues from the perspective of a programmer and developer

HTML5 delivers more marked-up sophistication for fuller graphics, animations and web based multimedia. Deeper and fuller web based application architecture gives greater client end capabilities and storage. HTML5 is fast turning into the next generation of the internet with the capability to replace plug-ins , Silverlight and Adobe. Microsoft’s Windows 8 upgrade launch and demonstration confirmed this with more gusto than any developer had imagined. Even with all these extended and enriched features, HTML5 is still only a user end product. Developing .NET applications from HTML5 methods are limited.

• ASP.NET. The introduction of Silverlight in 2007 looked to solve many of the problems of the ASP.NET not being able to provide simple desktop methodology. 4 years after the release we see Silverlight not being supported by operating systems such as the iOS as they grow in popularity. The HTML5 addition into the equation by the release of Windows 8 means the very future of Silverlight is in question.
• HTML5. With the widescale adoption of HTML5 by all the major browers and it becoming the new W3C standard for web rich animations, multimedia and graphics, it is clear to see that it is becoming the cross platform operating system independent tool of the future. This has already been the case for a number of years. Mass consumer adoption of web based applications energised by social media and social networking sites has firmly cemented this as the direction of the future. Beyond Silverlight, all code outside of HTML5, is seriously under threat. From the point of a programmer or a developer, this is a disaster of huge proportions. An influx of  low quality applications without a sustainable environment is imminent.
• Visual WebGui. Visual WebGui ProStudio .NETHTML5 has emerged as a development platform with end-to-end integrations of Microsoft .Net development, implementation of Java Script/HTML features through JQuery, Ajax, database connectivity and data binding. This is the only complete environment for developers and programmers to proceed. However, they will be hindered and frustrated by the complications of HTML5 and some of the long winded methods that need to be implemented, often for some of the simplest functions of applications. Further improvements with HTML to generate efficient running data-centric applications will be needed. There is no clear path as we head into these uncharted waters.

Windows 8 will allow traditional applications to run but it is blatantly obvious HTML5 and Java Script integration features of the operating system mean HTML is taking over. From the perspective of a programmer, working around a new framework provided by the Visual WebGui is the only option, and a big waste of what has been built up to date. The race is on to produce these new applications, but it is undeniable the quality and stability of those applications will degrade for the immediate future. WebGui is making big promises. It is replacing many years of development and improvements in a framework that  essentially only got running smoothly. In the end, we are doing what Microsoft wants. It is understandable they leaked the release of Windows 8 so far ahead of time to give the rest of us time to catch up.