@ CW2 - I had problems with the CorDebug debug project related to references pointing to the Windows 8.0 SDK, if I remember right.
I gave it a quick try and fixed the recent version (client_vNext, changeset 42984) so it can be built with Visual Studio Community 2013 - I put the code into a separate repository https://bitbucket.org/CW2/netmf-vnext-vs2013 follow instructions in readme.
I used Windows 10 Technical Preview, because I did not have a clean Windows 8.1 environment readily available for verification, but it should work too.
Edit: fixed the link (thanks Jason).
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@ CW2 - The link includes a full stop (.) and so doesnāt work.
https://bitbucket.org/CW2/netmf-vnext-vs2013
This does.
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I always knew that NETMF repository is a huge mess, but it seems I never really understood, how shitty it is. It is totally undocumented, project tree totally overcomplicated, and the code looks like a crap. I now probably understand, why Microsoft abandoned it ā they were probably unable to maintain it themselves. But cāmon, NETMF is not a spaceship, itās basically a thread scheduler with a RAM manager, running on a CortexM MCU, right? So why successful building is something people blog about?
Yet fixing source control system and cleaning up is not a number one task for Microsoft. This is really strange. With the code being as crappy as NETMF is, they must be wasting a colossal amounts of man-hours. Anyone taking bets they will implement better networking stack handling (or whatever their no1 task is now) before 2016 kicks in? I say they wonāt.
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@ Simon from Vilnius - Well, I hope they (MS) have a clean implementation of the new .net core and make a NetMf branch, fork, spoon whatever as long as they make it ā¦
They have their .net core fitting for all devices and more value for money as the maintenance cost will drastically go down (I hope) ā¦ and we (the community) have a new & clean & updated repository to be inline with evt. upcoming changes and can contribute to,if one choses so ā¦
But thatās just my idea, I might totally lost my sense of reality here ā¦
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@ Simon from Vilnius -
Itās exactly like you said and I agree.
Because this needs to change, the #1 reason is to blog about, to create public awareness about the current state of the build system and the code and to build a community that cares about it.
As soon as people try to build NetMF on their own, they will try to examine the code, the build system. They will fail most of the time, and they will insist on change to happen.
The next thing I am personally always concerned about is miscommunication. And in this case, there is nearly zero communication with the community. This needs to change as well.
From the perspective of entry into the field of (the buzz again, but thatās how it is) IoT the whole Gadgeteering universe is a one of the simplest entry models available on the market.
Excellent free tools and (if not required otherwise) - no soldering, no additional costs.
Best sample: GHI and the tool integration based on Gadgeteer into Visual Studio. Drag and drop your components, write code in C# and you are good to go. All based on NetMF.
But, the most important thing about is the community. The people here, the help starters receive and the acceptance they experience here. Pure magic.
Thatās why I think that it is worth to care about and to spread the word.
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I second this notion, I have said several times that we have the best members any community could ask for!
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Well said! 
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Well, it was originally running on Blackfin, SuperH, Dragonball, and ARMv5. The Cortex-M stuff is a recent newcomer. In my opinion, much could be gained by dropping support for everything that isnāt Cortex-M because then, many simplifying assumptions could be made. The PAL and HAL could be greatly simplified by relying on CMSIS. This would, of course, mean no more Hydra and no more G400.
Iāve said it before, Iāll say it again, NETMF does not, and will not share any code with .NET Core. .NET Core is an implementation of the CLR/CLI, while NETMF is an interpreted runtime with a completely different architecture, garbage collector, thread scheduler (as in, .NET Core uses the OSā scheduler), etc. The .NET Core announcement has no relevancy whatsoever to NETMF.
And there continues to be no communication. Every once in a while, thereās a ānew teamā announcement, or a āColin is backā announcement, or a āhey IoT websiteā announcement, but thereās no substantial communication at all. Even GHI seems to be losing interest, as theyāre getting involved in mbed.
Note what WAS NOT said here: āweāre working on itā. There continues to be no evidence that theyāre actually putting effort into NETMF.
@ godefroi -
I observed the same thing. Even the blog is not very active. Still I will try to change something about that. I know that it will take some time and effort. I have no idea whatās going on under the hood, but I can imagine that the NetMF team is under pressure. And I am sure they are willed to work with the community and to change things. But that will take time and help from the community.
I donāt want to speak for them, but I doubt GHI is losing interest. Weāre also working with them under NDA on some interesting things that wonāt materialize for a while. Gus and Gary can likely confirm that weāve had some good Skype calls and email conversations around some concrete ideas related to Gadgeteer.
We last spoke about NETMF in November. We shared a bunch of info with MVPs, for example. Thereās a fair bit we canāt say publicly because it fits into our overall strategy for Windows and IoT. The advantage of being part of the official strategy is the support you get. The downside is that sometimes we canāt talk about stuff in public.
Iāll take it as feedback that weāve been too quiet, though.
[em]Also, Microsoft essentially shuts down in December as everyone tries to use the vacation time theyād otherwise forfeit on January 1. Itās not unusual to have next to zero comms during that month. Personally, I spent the first half of the month traveling around the world doing field hackathons, and the second half on vacation. :)[/em]
Yesterday, I posted that ConnectTheDots.io now supports Gadgeteer. Not just NETMF, but proper Gadgeteer. I thought that was good news to share with you all. Itās an official Microsoft / MS Open Tech project, and is what we use for field training and events.
There is still an active NETMF team, working diligently on NETMF enhancements. Some of the things weāre evaluating are fairly large, and so take time to do.
Also, in the grand scheme of things, NETMF is important, but itās not Huge. Weāre only going to talk about it so much in public and at events. This is similar to other tech we have which, while very active, is somewhat niche.
And yes, the repo is a hot mess. Weāre looking at options there, but to the best of my knowledge, there have not yet been any concrete actions taken. Pretty sure thatās why you wonāt hear a āweāre working on itā because that sets expectations weāre not yet ready to commit to. I need to catch back up with the team after the holidays here to confirm that.
I get we need to do something there if we want to encourage people to port. However, compiling NETMF is certainly not a common use-case in the NETMF community. Therefore we optimize for the things that get done thousands of times vs the things that get done tens of times.
Thatās always been the case. For example, our Windows Driver Development Kit in Windows was considered by many to be a huge mess until we finally revamped it last year. I also hear from Android OEMs that porting Android is equally painful. This isnāt to make an excuse, or to belittle the frustration, but rather to put in context the priorities here.
Iām going to meet with the NETMF team and other folks in the IoT client teams at the end of this month, when Iām on campus after NAMM. If I can share anything here, I will.
Hope that helps, a little. 
Pete
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@ Pete Brown - Thank you for the detailed explanations and for you efforts. Looking forward hearing about all the news regarding NetMF 
@ Pete Brown - Thanks for sharing what you can, when you can. Looking forward to hearing more in the future.
@ Pete Brown - I have faith and believe it is going to happen. We just really need to show a significant contribution from Microsoft, actually multiple contributions. This community has been waiting for a very long time I think you agree.
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No doubt its been a bit of a brawl with Microsoft in the past, but Iām feeling pretty good about the idea that Microsoft is starting to get a handle on what important technologies .NetMF and Gadgeteer are (finally) so guys Microsoft is happening and getting some of their ducks in a row and then its going to be show time, so really guys just keep the cool projects and successes rolling out there as we should feel pretty good that the user community has been building some really good momentum. Getting .NetMF to compile was actually really helpful to Microsoft as it helped line up some priorities a little better, so Thanks @ AWSOMEDEVSIGNER as this was some impressive work and Iām not the only one that thinks that.
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Some of us think otherwise and are out to prove that .NetMF and Gadgeteer are Huge.
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@ Duke Nukem -
The momentum is important now. There are so many great and useful Codeshares, Creations that truly deserve to be considered reference examples and that could become part of the NetMF documentation later on. As samples for Gadgeteer based devices - or NetMF in general. Thatās one idea that I have in mind. Similar to the project structure on ConnectTheDots.io .
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[quote=āAWSOMEDEVSIGNERā]
The momentum is important now.[/quote]
I would agree and while there has been some uber cool and impressive work done recently by the Gadgeteer Community members, I think we are just getting started and are loading up for bear and letting folks know it.
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@ Duke Nukem - Totally agree. Itās a complete re-boot
But why so many āThere are big things happening but I cannot tell moreā and āwe are under NDAā? What big secret features one can bring into a technology, that is already mature and has pretty much everything?
Iām still not convinced. You know, āThe future gonna be awesome!ā says every CEO before permanently shuting doors closed on friday. Who wants a conspiracy theory? Iāve got one: maybe there is no big feature. Maybe Microsoft is simply evaluating, whether thereās any point in fixing NETMF. But if it takes longer and a free Windows 10 copy running on Odroid C1 arrives first, then thereās hardly any future for NETMF.
Soā¦ Iām not an old NETMF lover as many other community members here are, but I do my best helping others. My activities in NETMF stretch far beyond the line where Iām still payed for it. Maybe itās time to throw a frigginā bone here, or something? 50 new issues on Codeplex doesnāt countā¦
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