Connecting to Nexus 7 device for debugging on Windows 8.1

While the instructions Using Hardware Devices and OEM USB Drivers are adequate, here's my experience setting up my 2nd generation Nexus 7 on Windows 8.1 Pro.

When connecting the device to my computer's USB port, Windows does recognize it and installs drivers, but treats the device as a Music Player:

At this point, adb does not recognize the device for development purposes:

However, after following the instructions for the Google USB Driver, I get the following: 

and from adb, I do see the device listed when doing the command "adb devices".

Registering device for Windows Phone 8 development

In order for the phone to be registered for development, it also needs to be browse-able in File Explorer when the phone is connected.  In my experience, the most common problem is assuming that any USB cable is compatible when in fact some cables are only useful for charging:  Windows Phone 8 is not detected by your computer

When there are problems you may see the following screens:

When the phone is properly detected, you will see the following:

Upon clicking "Register", if your phone is also connected to the Internet, you will see the following in moments and be able to deploy your applications to the device:

Setting up Apache Cordova/PhoneGap

Based on following the steps in the official PhoneGap documentation, the following document augments that information with more details, specifically around setting up on Windows 8 and for developing Windows Phone 8/Android apps:

Setting up Apache Cordova/PhoneGap (version controlled)