Running Windows 8 DP apps on Windows 8 Build 8118

[johndoe123]

Hi, I would like to know how to run Windows 8 DP apps on Windows 8 Build 8118. I have tried to copy the Applications folder from 8102 to 8118 but apps will not launch. They also don't show up in the start screen app list.

[Fanta Shokata]

I think that Windows 8 DP apps won't run on build 8118 as they're not compatible.

[johndoe123]

They are. I've even seen someone even run them on Windows 10.
And by apps I mean metro apps.

[Windows OS]

The APIs shouldn't be too different in 8118 compared to 8102 (the DP), but sideloading them is much more complicated than simply copying the applications folder, as you'll have to deal with app signing and certificates and the like. I might try experimenting with sideloading the DP's apps into 8118 and I'll report on if I'm successful.

Offtopic Comment

In terms of running the apps on newer versions of Windows, back in 2015, Goldfish64 was able to get Zero Gravity fully working by decompiling the application and modifying it to use Windows 8's RTM APIs instead of the earlier APIs seen on the Developer Preview, but he didn't bother to work on the other apps (use the arrow in the quote header to jump to the original post):

How would you play these?

To start, they need to packed up using makeappx, signed, and installed. Unfortunately, they won't run without changes as the APIs changed quite a bit between the developer preview, consumer preview, and RTM.

They will start after some manifest changes, even on Windows 10. Here's Labyrinth:

Labyrinth starts but just sits there.

Zero Gravity:

The splash screen is all that is shown before the app crashes due to a missing Run() method on the Application class.

I have no knowledge of WinJS so I can't fix Labyrinth. I should be able to repair Zero Gravity as it is written in C# and tools like ILSpy can decompile it. The XAML files aren't compiled so those could be used as is.

EDIT: Zero Gravity fixed with Windows 8 RTM APIs and works on Windows 10:



I played it up to level 11 under a debugger and so far no exceptions. Video, sound, and all animations appear to work. For reference, the app was done in .NET and is completely XAML-based.

He did later on release his modified Zero Gravity package:

APPX only: https://mega.nz/#!CEExjaQK!y3TZXLhLPMyK ... UfdmTm8wsk
Source (requires VS2012): https://mega.nz/#!3EVkWR5S!ae5ez71N8JqV ... T2d-wJmrBE

Although he didn't bother to work on the other included apps, and AFAIK no one was able to get them working on newer builds of Windows.

[johndoe123]

Could using this tool get the apps working?
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/msix- ... verviewtab