Previously known as Project Reunion.
| Delight users with modern UI | Access new platform features | Backwards compatible |
|---|---|---|
 Powerful WinUI 3 UI |
 Localization + power status + more |
 Down to Windows 10 1809 |
...and more, without having to rewrite your app!
- Use your current installer (no requirement to use MSIX, but there are reliability/security benefits to using MSIX!)
- 100% additive (only add what you need, leave the rest of your app as-is)
- Works with Win32, WPF, WinForms, and more apps
Plus, create beautiful, modern apps for Windows 11 that are backwards compatible to Windows 10 October 2018 Update (build 17763 / version 1809)!
Packaged MSIX desktop apps can use the 0.8 release now!0
Some notes about 0.8...
- Requires using MSIX (1.0 won't require MSIX)
- Only includes WinUI 3 / Text rendering / Localization
- To use WinUI 3, it's best to start a new app project and, if useful, copy any existing code/business logic from past projects into the new project (in the future, XAML Islands will enable incrementally adopting WinUI 3)
Here's a snippet of what we intend to deliver in 2021 (times/features/releases are tentative and subject to change):
| App type | Windows App SDK 0.8 | Windows App SDK 1.0 (Q4 2021) |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged MSIX desktop apps (WPF, Win32, WinForms, console) |
✅ WinUI 3 ✅ Text rendering ✅ Localization 🔄 App lifecycle |
✅ WinUI 3 ✅ Text rendering ✅ Localization ✅ App lifecycle 🔄 Push Notifications |
| Unpackaged desktop apps (WPF, Win32, WinForms, console) |
🔄 Text rendering 🔄 Localization 🔄 App lifecycle |
✅ WinUI 3 ✅ Text rendering ✅ Localization ✅ App lifecycle 🔄 Push Notifications |
✅ Supported | 🔄 Experimental
See our full roadmap for more details.
The Windows App SDK aims to work on supported versions of Windows. Right now we support down to build 17763 (version 1809/October 2018 Update) of Windows 10. Wherever possible, we'll use techniques like 'polyfills' and custom implementations to do the heavy lifting for you and make sure your app works across Windows versions and devices. In the future, there may be a couple APIs that are dependent on new OS features (like new Action Center functionality), however we will do our best to ensure this is the exception and not the norm, and provide reasonable fallbacks when possible.
- More details about the Windows App SDK - More on what the project is and how we're approaching the work.
- Video on Windows App SDK - Learn about the Windows App SDK in a 22 minute video!
- Roadmap - Where we're going!
- Contributor guide - How to contribute to the Windows App SDK.
- FAQ - Frequently asked questions about the Windows App SDK.
We want to hear from you!
File a new issue! Tell us what problem you're trying to solve, how you've tried to solve it so far, and what would be the ideal solution for your app. Bonus points if there's a gist or existing repo we can look at with you.
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Ask a question
Also, have a look at our frequently asked questions page which we will update periodically. -
Start a discussion
Discussions can be about any topics or ideas related to the Windows App SDK. For example, you might start a Discussion issue to see if others are interested in a cool new idea you've been thinking about that isn't quite ready to be filed as a more formal Feature Proposal. -
Make a feature proposal
What components do you want to see in the Windows App SDK? For example you can propose a new API on an existing type, or an idea for a new API. It's fine if you don't have all the details: you can start with a summary and rationale.
Over time, we will add Windows App SDK code and samples into this repo and provide code contribution/developer guidelines.
Read more about the contribution guide here.
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