Will Meteor be a real option on windows in the near future?

[Ajar Ajar]

I know it's a lot easier to simply develop meteor on a mac, but thought it would be useful to ask any of you who develop mwteor apps on windows
Is it a viable option?
Do you use a virtual machine running a mac or Linux?
Is the meteor for windows port still alive?
Is it about to be upgraded anytime soon to 9+ or even 1.0 ?
Is there an end to the node-gyp nightmare?

Will appreciate any support or advice you might have

Cheers
Ajar

[tom1v...@gmail.com]

I haven't used Windows properly for about 10 years now, but my guess is that Meteor won't be 'supported' on Windows any time soon. I think that because Meteor uses a stack that is really built on Linux.

But like you've suggested, the way to get the best of both worlds is to install VirtualBox, and install a copy of Ubuntu. Then if you really want to stay mostly in Windows, you can ssh into it from a Windows client, or whatever.

[Slava Kim]

The Windows port is very alive and the author has recently ported a 0.9.x release to Windows. 0.9.x series had major changes in the tool so presumably next updates can be done easier (but I cannot speak for Stephen here).

[Stephen Darnell]

Hi Ajar,

Yes the windows port is still alive, and an official port is still on the MDG roadmap albeit after 1.0.

There are still issues to be aware of, and I certainly don't claim it to be bug free. But if you're using windows, my port is useable and means you can use a familiar environment, tools etc.

If you're happy running a Unix like environment, can spare the ram, and don't mind switching between the two, then a VM approach might be for you.

The key thing is that it is a matter of taste, and what you are prepared to compromise. Only you can decide.
Why not give both a go, and then decide? Switching costs are minimal.

Regards,
Stephen

PS For the 0.9.x port, see https://github.com/sdarnell/meteor/wiki/Windows

[Jim Kitzmiller]

Stephen, thank you so much for the windows port. It will be a godsend for starting new users on Worldwide Meteor Day Meetups :-) 

Jim

[Ivan Histand]

This is the stack that I've been using on Windows (8.1 pro), and I don't have any outstanding issues for development:

Oracle VM VirtualBox

Debian installed as VM with  only server parts  (no Xwindows)

Samba for file sharing

Putty for terminal (the windows copy-paste is superb)

JetBrains Webstorm 9.0 editor, this is excellent, and it now has Meteor support built in.

This works for me, let me know if you have any questions.  I did try using a full XWindows install of Debian and Ubuntu on both VirtualBox and VMWare, but that just didn't work for me. One other option of of course is to just use a cloud server, codio.com is my favorite that has good web based dev tools built in.

--Ivan

[Dan Dascalescu]

One problem I've run into in Windows is packages using the colon character to name some of their files. *nix and GitHub support that, Windows does not.

Example, example.

[Dustin Malik]

@Ivan - I'm trying to setup something similar. Did you follow a guide or is this something you setup yourself? I tried going the Vagrant route with this guide (https://github.com/shoebappa/vagrant-meteor-windows) but the shared folders weren't working for me. Any tips on setup would be appreciated. 

Cheers,

Dustin

[Dustin Malik]

Nevermind. Got it working with this guide - https://gist.github.com/gabrielhpugliese/5855677

[Sashko Stubailo]

Hi everyone!

I announced it on the Meteor roadmap on Trello - as of this week, we are starting work on official support for Meteor on Windows.

Thanks Stephen and others who worked on the community port, I'm going to reach out to you shortly for advice on how best to proceed!

Thanks,

Sashko