Disclaimer: I have no clue about Win specific game development, but I thought this would be interesting for others.

I read in a lot of places recently (this year) that XNA is 'dead' (search Google for instance). Is this true? What replaces it?

MonoGame replaces it and is available now for Windows 8. In fact I've completed two games using MonoGame which run using 95% the same code on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. Pretty soon there will be a Linux and Android version as well.

If you want to see what's possible you can check them out:

1) Adlib: http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/en-US/app/adlib/9cc0809e-b0...

2) Petunk http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/en-US/app/petunk/c03ecbca-4...

You can also read a great deal more about the process as well as watch me convert a game live here: http://www.reddit.com/r/windows8/comments/10g4r2/check_out_m...

I was looking for an 'official MS technology' replacing it. I know monogame. I wouldn't think anyone NEW to game dev would start with it; it's for XNA devs wanting a life after, right?