Project Union: Microsoft releases Windows App SDK 1.0, developers try to puzzle it out

Microsoft released the Windows App SDK 1.0 earlier this month, the first full release of "Project Reunion", but there is some confusion about what it is and whether developers need it. The release of the Windows App SDK was associated with the arrival of .NET 6.0, a long-term release of Microsoft's application platform, but it …

[druck]

They really haven't got a clue, have they.

[Brewster's Angle Grinder]

It sounds like it wouldn't have been released if it was up to the dev team. Is that why it's called manglement?

[Anonymous Coward]

Disaster movie

The article describes *another* in a series of movie pitches that would have failed in years past. No one would have believed this plot. *No one*. Microsoft releasing Windows software that can't do more-than-one window? Coronavirus proving Western civilization has rejected toilet-training? Trump being elected as a champion for the common people? Brexit?

It would seem the utterly ridiculous plot for Idiocracy was the last intelligent movie premise.

[Anonymous Coward]

@druck - Nah, it's more like

they don't give a sh$%^t. And why would they ?

[MacroRodent]

So, win32 API

... is still the way if one wants to write an application that actually works smoothly, and is distributable?

[werdsmith]

Re: So, win32 API

That's a reasonable description of VS Code, which I believe is an Electron application.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So, win32 API

"still the way"

Yeh... and to not take their advice on the icons/font so that your program doesn't look immediately like shit or, possibly "refreshed"/replaced in a few years to MS's liking and not yours.

I suspect they'll eventually put their hooks into Win32 API and bork it. Everyone assumes they won't for backwards compatibility, which is probably true, but I don't think backwards compatibility is in MS's future. When that day comes, I'm sure they'll leave in a few old hooks, just enough to get you on their cloud.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So, win32 API

... and is actually futureproof

[Anonymous Coward]

Complete waste of time

Why would anyone want to design a UI without a visual designer

This is why ALL modern apps and web apps look like complete and utter shite

Why the hell have we gone back to 1980 and mainframe CICS methodology

What brain dead diversity hire thought this was a good idea

Modern developers are absolute rubbish - completely clueless - no idea how to design a DB and the worst UI's ever

[elsergiovolador]

The problem with apps designed by visual designers is that they are likely never going to be the end users nor they have necessary domain knowledge about what they are designing.

So you end up getting an app that looks "cool", but is as useful as wet toilet paper.

[Lusty]

I assumed they meant graphical rapid app development environment like Delphi or Visual Studio rather than a hipster in Starbucks defining the interface. As opposed to the current baffling trend to define the interface as code so that it usually looks like shite on most devices, and randomly fogets to render some useful widgets.

[BrownishMonstr]

"If they wanted it to look pretty, they'd hire someone to make it pretty. You don't get the engineer to design the car, do you*?"

*The sexy design, not designing for manufacturing, assembly, and aerodynamics.

[Anonymous Coward]

"support for multiple Windows was not finished in time to be included in 1.0"

Microsoft always has to restart from Windows 1.0

[John Brown (no body)]

Eh...what?

With the mention of Windows SDK 1.0 and WinUI 3.0, I was expecting an article about MS open sourcing the original Windows SDK :-)

Probably because I just read the article about the Win 3.1 mouse driver

[ColonelClaw]

Honestly I'm kind-of surprised that Push Notifications weren't the first feature to be implimented. That's if current MS apps are anything to go by.

[Anonymous Coward]

Typo in headline?

Surely it should've been called Project Onion because there are so many layers and it'll make adults cry.

[elsergiovolador]

Abandonware

I bet it is going to be abandoned half way.

Then few years later we will have Project Togetherness.

[Howard Sway]

"Performance will be an area of focus for us in 2022" said the team

Yes, in the 22nd year of the 21st century Microsoft will still be trying to make the ill-designed software they've rushed out perform at a reasonable speed, rather than starting with a clear logical design that will perform well in the first place.

Is it called Project Union because it feels like any sluggish GUI application built with it has gone on strike?

[pip25]

Why was this released?

Some project manager decided that it has to be out around when .NET 6 becomes available, otherwise... well, just because? This thing is obviously not ready, even by Microsoft's standards.

[Anonymous Coward]

Reading Raymond Chen's musings on the various flavours of WinRT...

...makes me realise that the only person qualified to write modern software for Windows is probably Raymond Chen.

[Slions]

At last a smart move

Win32 APIs with modern UI is what we needed all along. It's basically the logical evolution of WPF and you can optionally get package and permission support for better store integration I suppose.

Even though none of that makes much sense when looking at it from afar it's actually quite a natural evolution.

Win32 and WinForm

WPF and XAML

UWP XAML modern UI, package and permissions

WinUI has goodness from all of the above

Microsoft app development is just a very slow moving behemoth and you've got to wonder what's taking them so long to execute. I guess that's the price of success and backward compatibility.

As of writing C# WinUi is basic but usable. Multiple windows works as far as I can tell. Use CsWin32 for your native calls, you will need a lot of them for doing even basic things like changing the application icon. However XAML UI designer is one or two years away apparently, which will be annoying if you are designing complex UI. For basic apps it's fine though.