#HowfastISfast: race-car driver vs. Windows developer
Testing the speed of the Desktop Bridge for Windows
On a cold, spring day, a race car roared down a twisting race track at 150 miles per hour. Two passengers nestled in the car. One was a race-car driver. The other, a software developer.
They were racing not only against time — but each other.
Could the developer port and upload one of his company’s desktop apps via Desktop Bridge to Windows faster than it takes for the race-car driver to complete three 2.5-mile laps?
That was the question that spurred Derek Wade, the chief software engineer at Individual Software Inc., and professional race-car driver Andrew Carbonell onto the track at Road Atlanta, a world-class road-racing circuit an hour outside Atlanta, Georgia.
We’re going to see who finishes first,” said Andrew. “The car or the developer.”
Desktop Bridge: Streamlined deployment, more opportunities, simpler monetization
Individual Software, located in Livermore, Calif., has been developing and publishing educational, business and personal productivity software since its founding in 1981. Its more than 100 products and services were built for native desktop use.
But the release of Desktop Bridge in 2016 is making it simpler and faster than ever before to distribute the company’s products onto the Universal Windows Platform and reach more users, both in the U.S. and internationally, Derek said.
“We are reaching more people and gaining additional revenue we didn’t have before,” he added.
So far, Individual Software brought three of its apps — Typing Instructor Platinum, Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum, and Disney: Mickey’s Typing Adventure over to the UWP and Windows Store, with more apps in the works. The aim, Derek said, is to port an app every two weeks via Desktop Bridge.
“Desktop Bridge is very easy and straightforward to use,” he said. “The conversion process itself doesn’t take very long at all, just minutes of your time.”
Desktop Bridge streamlines app deployment; gives developers greater reach and distribution via Microsoft’s Windows Store, which provides automatic updates and built-in licensing; and allows developers to extend and modernize their apps with UWP features such as live tile updates, a XAML user interface, and more. (Check out Microsoft Virtual Academy’s video-enabled “Developer’s Guide to the Desktop Bridge” to get the full run-down.)
For Derek, the fact that no re-engineering is involved is one of Desktop Bridge’s top benefits. He also experimented with the live tile feature for the typing apps to show useful information such as words per minute and progress to users without having to open the apps.
“The key of the Desktop Bridge is that it doesn’t change your program at all but packages it well,” he said. “It leverages much of the power of the UWP even though you’re running a legacy desktop application.”
And the winner is …
It takes a race car around four minutes — depending on auto speed, weather, road conditions, and driver skills — to complete three laps at Road Atlanta.
Could Derek beat that time?
Buckled into the passenger seat, wearing a crash helmet, and equipped with his Surface Book, he began the app-porting process as soon as Andrew began speeding down the track, 150 mph on the straightaways, 80 mph on the many turns.
It took Derek a minute and change to package the app, around a minute to add functionality, and under a minute to convert the app.
Final time for Derek was 4:01:27, just before the race car shot across the finish line.
“The car was fast, but the Desktop Bridge and I were faster. The excitement is knowing that what I develop helps children and adults improve their typing speed and accuracy,” he said after the race. “This helps them get to where they want to go, faster.”
Want to see more? Check out our “behind the scenes” video.
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