With ability to insert entire blocks of code from other sources into new Windows Store applications, it should be possible to readily convert existing line-of-business applications written in .Net, enabling transition from Web apps to desktops. That means quicker adoption of touchscreen devices into businesses, he says. "Enterprise customers show lots of interest in applications for Windows 8," he says.

He says some clients are already porting some applications to Windows 8 as a proof of concept, but haven't committed to using them in production.

Ken Sutcliffe, a developer for Cancer Care Ontario, already uses Windows Phone applications to help in the treatment of cancer patients. Brock Dodgson, the development manager for the agency, says he is looking for what new technology could augment the existing application. For example, near field communication supported by Windows Phone 8 could be used to share drug information sheets between clinicians and patients. "I'm trying to see where it might fit in," Dodgson says.

He says his organization might write a prototype Windows 8 version of a head and neck radiology application already written for the . That might be more attractive to hospital IT staffers because it would rely on a Windows back end that they are familiar with and rely on already, Dodgson says.

"We won't take a total left turn," says Sutcliffe. "We'll get a sense of how we can fit it in."