At PDC this year Microsoft announced that Surface development resources were going to be made publicly available. (Up until now it had been an “invitation only” system).
This is great news and means anyone can build or prototype Surface applications. The Surface SDK comes with a very good simulator. A table is still needed to evaluate performance and usability, but you can go a long way with just the simulator.
Here is a copy & paste from a recent mail-out:
Surface Web site (http://www.surface.com)
- A new Technical Resources section to help you connect to the other available resources and support.
MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com)
- A new Microsoft Surface section of the MSDN Library (under .NET Development), providing the Surface SDK documentation and other topics about developing Surface applications.
- New Surface-specific forums about designing and developing Surface applications.
TechNet (http://technet.microsoft.com)
- A new Microsoft Surface section of the TechNet Library (under Products and Technologies), describing the basics of the Surface software and hardware and how to set up, customize, troubleshoot, and maintain Surface units.
- New Surface-specific forums about the Surface software platform, hardware, and applications.
Microsoft Download center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads)
- A new product category for all Surface downloads, including the Surface SDK Workstation Edition, applications, documentation, and any software fixes.
Microsoft Support (http://support.microsoft.com)
- Public Surface KB articles for fixes, known issues, and workarounds.
- Surface Solution Center to direct customers to the right self-support and assisted-support options.