The roadmap for the Windows App SDK supports the primary goals of breaking down the barriers between Win32 and UWP and making the Windows developer platform more agile, compatible, modern and open.
For a general overview, see the readme and FAQ.
Here's how we intend to roll out the Windows App SDK. To subscribe to updates, subscribe to this discussion. (all times/features/releases are tentative and subject to change):
As a packaged MSIX desktop app (WinUI 3, WPF, WinForms, Win32, console), here's what you (tentatively) can expect from the Windows App SDK!
| 🌟 | 0.8 | 1.0 (Q4 2021) | Future release |
|---|---|---|---|
| WinUI 3 | ✅ Supported (WinUI 3 apps only) |
✅ Supported (WinUI 3 apps only) |
✅ Supported |
| XAML Islands (Use WinUI 3 in other apps) |
❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Text rendering | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Resource management | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| App lifecycle | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Power state notifications | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Windowing | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Single-project MSIX | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Push notifications | ❌ Not Supported | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported |
| Dynamic dependencies | ❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Elevation support | ❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Deploy options: | |||
| • Framework-dependent | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| • Self-contained | ❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
As an unpackaged desktop app (WinUI 3, WPF, WinForms, Win32, or console, not using MSIX), here's what you (tentatively) can expect from the Windows App SDK!
| 🌟 | 0.8 | 1.0 (Q4 2021) | Future release |
|---|---|---|---|
| WinUI 3 | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported (WinUI 3 apps only) |
✅ Supported |
| XAML Islands (Use WinUI 3 in other apps) |
❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Text rendering | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Resource management | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| App lifecycle | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Power state notifications | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Windowing | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Push notifications | ❌ Not Supported | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported |
| Dynamic dependencies | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Elevation support | ❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Deploy options: | |||
| • Framework-dependent | 🔄 Experimental | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| • Self-contained | ❌ Not Supported | ❌ Not Supported | ✅ Supported |
The Windows platform team is currently focused on the four primary areas below for the Windows App SDK.
This isn't an exhaustive list: it's a sampling of some of the key infrastructure work we're doing to break down the barriers between Win32 and UWP and decouple the platform from the OS, plus some of the new functionality we're adding to enable new app capabilities and address top developer issues.
- WinUI 3 - the Windows 10 native UI platform for Win32 and UWP
- WebView2 - embedding web content in Windows apps using the new Edge (Chromium) engine
- React Native Windows - now targeting WinUI
- Modern Windowing
- Touch, inking, display improvements
- ARM64 support
- Input
- Better options for app lifecycle management and power usage
- DirectWrite text rendering platform
- Local and Push Notifications
- Background Tasks
- Enhanced app packaging
- Framework package deployment
- Auto update for all app types
-
Decoupling the Windows platform from the OS
- faster updates that you can start using on day 1
-
Ensuring features work on all supported Windows versions
- initial min OS version = 1809
- polyfilling features as needed
- supporting both Win32 and UWP
-
Moving engineering to GitHub
In the future, you can expect multiple releases per year from the Windows App SDK team. We will continue to improve app compatibility and deliver new capabilities. One of our top features for a future release is XAML Islands, which will allow you to use WinUI 3 controls in an existing WPF/WinForms/etc app. We'll share more details when we have a more concrete schedule, but that's one of our top requests!