Microsoft has quietly finalized the Windows App SDK, which seeks to reunite Windows desktop and mobile developers.

“Windows App SDK 1.0 Stable release is live,” Microsoft’s Kevin Gallo tweeted. “The Windows App SDK is focused on empowering developers to build the most productive apps on Windows and we’re looking forward to your feedback.”

What I’m curious about is why this release happened with so little fanfare. Isn’t this the future of Windows app development? Microsoft launched .NET 6 and Visual Studio 2022 last week with several announcement posts and two virtual events, and it seems like the Windows App SDK should have launched along with them. But there’s not even a single blog post about this release on the official Microsoft Developer Blogs.

What we did get was an update via the Windows App SDK’s GitHub page, which notes that version 1.0 is available today and includes unpackaged support with WinUI 3, single-project templates, and more.

As you may recall, the Windows App SDK started off as Project Reunion, and it’s designed to bridge the gap that Microsoft previously created between traditional C/C++ desktop applications and Metro/Store/Universal Windows Platform (UWP) mobile apps, the latter of which were tied to specific Windows 10 versions. With the Windows App SDK, Microsoft has made some UWP functionality and several new features available to desktop app developers across all supported Windows 10 and 11 versions.

You can learn more about the Windows App SDK from the Microsoft Docs website.

Tagged with Project Reunion, Windows App SDK