Resources

Below are some good resources for learning a variety of Microsoft technologies...

Windows 8 App Development

Get started with your apps

App Builder - Support for developing your app and getting it in the Windows Store. Technical and Design review opportunities and more!
Windows 8 Developer Documentation - Docs for both Windows Store apps and desktop apps.
Windows 8 RP to RTM Migration Guide - Learn how to migrate your Windows 8 app from the Release Preview to RTM, including step-by-step porting instructions and breaking changes.
Port your WPF or Silverlight code to Windows 8 - Start with this documentation to smooth the migration/porting process from WPF/Silverlight to Windows 8.
Port your Windows Phone app to Windows 8 - Start with this documentation to smooth the migration/porting process from Windows Phone to Windows 8.
Windows 8 resources for iOS developers - Everything you need, from getting Windows 8 and the dev tools set up on your Mac, to mappings of popular APIs from iOS to Windows 8.
Windows Azure Free Trial Offer - Kick the tires on Microsoft's cloud offering, and see how you can use it in your Win8 apps, for free.
Resolving Certification Errors? - Did your app fail certification for the Windows Store? This handy list of common problems may help you resolve the situation more quickly.

Windows 8 Developer Downloads

Windows 8 downloads for app developers - Download links for Windows 8 RTM (90-day trial), Visual Studio Express 2012, samples, design guidance, and more. Windows 8 Release Preview users, see the link below for Visual Studio 2012 RC.
Windows Azure Mobile Services (Preview) - Preview release of services to rapidly build out a back-end data structure with REST-style endpoints, and also includes support for push notifications and authentication. Try the tutorial...SERIOUSLY fast and easy way to build a service back-end for a Windows 8 or mobile app.

Selected learning resources

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 8
Programming Windows Store apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript - free and quite extensive eBook from author Kraig Brockschmidt.
Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8 in 10 minutes - nice overview from author Kraig Brockschmidt.
IE Blog - Connect your website to your Windows 8 app.
Ed Bott at ZDNet - Use boot to VHD to run Windows 8 side-by-side with your Windows 7 install.
Windows 8 Camp in a Box - Slides, Hands-on Labs, and more. Available in JavaScript and C# flavors.
Windows 8 Virtual Labs - Learn how to develop Windows 8 apps hands-on, at your own pace.
Building Windows 8 Blog - Managing "BYO" devices in the Enterprise (includes discussion of LOB app deployment.

App Madness Challenge - Build Apps, and for up to 5 apps, get a $100 gift card per app published by 4/11/2013.
Signing up for DreamSpark and Windows Store - Edwin Guarin walks you through signing up for your free DreamSpark account, step by step, as well as signing up for a Windows Store developer account.

Microsoft WebMatrix - Simple, easy-to-learn, lightweight web development tool.
Windows Phone SDK - Get Started developing apps for Windows Phone 7.
Windows Azure SDK - Get started building cloud apps today!
Windows Azure Free Trial Offer - Kick the tires on Microsoft's cloud offering, for free.