Windows 8 – Handling Backend Database Access in Metro Apps

So I'm reading up about the differences between the old and the new APIs, and I can't find whether the new WinRT API will provide for desktop apps, so far it seems its only available to write Metro apps - ie the full screen, 'phone style' apps.

All WinRT more or less is a modified library similar to Win32.

WinRT is the Metro version of Win32, they took a great deal of complexity away from it, and made it easy to work with.

Does this mean that I can write a WinRT-based app and it will be invoked from a desktop but display like other Metro apps (eg IE) and I won't be able to write an old-style desktop app that runs in the old-style desktop?

In theory you would write a desktop application and add WinRT code in order to display a Metro style UI when the user requested it.

What does this mean for server side apps? I imagine WinRT would be the API of choice for servers, now that Windows Server comes with an optional GUI, so I imagine that if I can write a windows-less app using WinRT for the server, I should be able to write the same for the client too? (and if that's the case, surely I could connect a non-Metro UI to it)

Don't guess...Power Shell( the name escapes me if this is wrong ) is still king in Windows Server

Using Nuget for library dependencies goes a long way toward dependency declaration and isolation.

The packages.config associated to each project can be read as a dependency declaration.

If those package references are marked 'private', they are bundled into the bin folder of your build outputs, and are presumably bundled for deployment. This avoids the requirement that all reference assemblies are GAC'd on the deployment box.