Yes, it’s true. With a $25 app, Windows 8 on a desktop, and an Apple iPad, you can stream your Metro apps to the iPad via Splashtop. While it’s not a replacement for a Windows 8 tablet, it does allow developers and enthusiasts to preview the applications using gestures and a real touch screen device. As Windows 8 tablets are not available (Windows 7 tablets are, and they run Win8, but not native Win8 tablets), this is about the only way to go at this time. I’d really like to see some development devices come out from Microsoft to allow developers to program for Windows 8 running on native Windows 8 hardware. Without it, I’m thinking another Vista may be coming. Hardware manufacturers aren’t ready, Microsoft is rushing to get Windows 8 out the door, and there are a lot of developers that are developing for non-existent hardware.

The Win8 Metro Testbed program allows app developers to test how their touch screen features work. It supports swiping from the left of the iPad to switch between Windows 8 apps and also supports swiping from the right to view the Windows 8 Charms menu. The app lets developers test the Windows 8 "snaps" feature which allows two Metro apps to run side by side along with pulling down an app from the top of the screen to close it.