Sell Robot Software for Microsoft?

[SeagullOne]

Suppose I wanted to sell robotic software that I've written on as many platforms as possible: Linux, iOS, Android, Windows, etc.

I know Linux is Open Source and Android you can develop for no problem. I also know you need a developers account to create iOS applications. But what about Microsoft Windows? Do I need to register some kind of developer's account with them?

Also, should I use a piece of software that is easily transferable from one OS to another, or should I reprogram the software for every operating system out there? Should I use a language like python to get across, or what some things get in the way of that?

Just exploring my options and courses of action I can take.

Thanks in advance.

[ErikY]

Suppose I wanted to sell robotic software that I've written on as many platforms as possible: Linux, iOS, Android, Windows, etc.

I know Linux is Open Source and Android you can develop for no problem. I also know you need a developers account to create iOS applications. But what about Microsoft Windows? Do I need to register some kind of developer's account with them?

Also, should I use a piece of software that is easily transferable from one OS to another, or should I reprogram the software for every operating system out there? Should I use a language like python to get across, or what some things get in the way of that?

Just exploring my options and courses of action I can take.

Thanks in advance.

You don't need to register to release software for a Microsoft OS, you simply  need to develop it and create an installation package.

If you use Microsoft's tools, they make it very easy for you.

They have free IDE's you can download and work in.

The primary MS languages are going to be .net (vb.net or c#) or visual c++ which is a matter of preference.

If you are developing for other OS and using c++, visual c++ would probably be a better choice.

You of course can always use any version of c++ as well, or even create java applications.

Java applications should work on any of the operating systems, as long as the users of your software downloads the SDK's for the OS they are using.

Java would be my choice, even though I do a lot of .net development, I am growing less fond of MS development by the day. But that is just me.

[newInRobotics]

If execution speed is not critical, then Java would be my shout, as You have to write code once, compile it once and then You can run it on any platform which has JVM running, in essence all major OS. In recent years Java got really good with its JIT (just in time) compiler able to highly optimize Your code depending on the system You run it on.

Other call would be to use something like Qt, it's primarily for C++ programmers, with it You can create cross-platform software. It has different strategy, You write code once and then compile it on different machines with whichever supported C++ compiler You want. So development and deployment is slightly longer compared to Java, however You can make good use of C++ resource management/utilization capabilities, hence gaining processing speed and smaller memory footprint.

From personal experience I say Qt is the way to go.