How to develop desktop (not Windows Store) apps for Windows tablets?

[PPettit]

I've been tasked with building an application that will primarily run on a Windows 8 tablet. We don't want to build a Windows Store app. We want to build a desktop app that can respond to tablet features like screen rotation/orientation and touch. Can this be done? It looks like there's an SDK with a tablet simulator for building Windows Store apps. Is there anything like this for desktop app development?

If it matters, I'm using Visual Studio Professional 2013.

 

[PPettit]

I should probably add that my development environment is Windows 7. I was hoping to use a tablet simulator, but it looks like that's only available for Windows 8 environments.

 

[jebenson]

I'm not sure that WinForms will work well on a tablet, as they are not designed to work with tablet-style inputs (e.g., screen touch).

Is it possible to make the app a web form? If you can, it can run in the tablet's browser and should work on any platform, not just Windows.

I used to rock and roll every night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find 30 minutes a week in which to get funky. - Homer Simpson

Arrrr, mateys! Ye needs ta be preparin' yerselves fer Talk Like a Pirate Day!

 

[PPettit]

Originally, the project was a web form, but I need to store about 20Mb of data in the event the user can't get cellular or WiFi signals. I had high hopes of using IndexedDB for local storage, but it wasn't working out for various reasons. We wound up deciding to buy a Windows tablet (not Surface) to see how that works out. I'll update this post if I run into anything of interest.