Thinking About the Surface Neo and Duo Developer Stories (Premium)

Weeks before the October Microsoft hardware event, we speculated about a dual-screen Surface device and a Microsoft phone. Now that we know these two devices are, in fact, happening---they’re called Surface Neo and Surface Duo, respectively---we can move on and speculate about something equally important: What’s the developer story? Or, maybe stories, since Neo runs on Windows 10 and Duo runs on Android.

According to the Microsoft officials I conversed with at last week’s events, the software giant will go public with its plans for developers “in the next few weeks.” More formally, Microsoft wrote in its blog post about Windows 10X and the “dual-screen PCs” it targets that it would “be engaging with our app developer ecosystem … in the coming months.” I don’t believe it’s made a similar public comment about the Android-based Surface Duo.

So, let’s step back a bit and frame this discussion. As you may recall, Build 2019 was personally notable for two reasons: We were told---yes, we, it wasn't just me---by very highly-placed Microsoft decision-makers that “UWP was dead” (their words) and was actively pushing a new smartphone past those who felt that ship had sailed. Since both of these tidbits were---still are---quite incendiary, I decided I would proceed carefully and get the community ready for these coming changes.

But before any of that had happened, I had written that “I think it may be game over for Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps platform” and I wondered what this meant for the Microsoft Store. At Build, Microsoft provided some clarity to these issues: UWP was dead, I was told, and Microsoft would no longer require developers to only deliver packaged Store apps via the Store; they would be free to distribute those apps via the web, like normal desktop application too. The Store isn’t/wasn’t “dead,” but it was no longer the focus. Just like UWP. So that’s what I wrote.

But Microsoft was less clear about UWP publicly, and while I’m sure they have their reasons, confusion has reigned ever since. I’ve also come under fire from UWP advocates in the developer space, and, I’d imagine, from some Windows enthusiasts who probably don’t even understand what’s really happening. Not helping matters, Microsoft has indicated---sometimes vaguely, sometimes not---that future Windows capabilities will be coming to UWP (as well as to other frameworks), and that this must mean, Paul, that UWP is not dead!

So, let’s address that bit.

Aside from the fact that I’m the messenger here and not the inventor of the “UWP is dead” message, here’s my take on what this really means: UWP is dead in the sense that it is no longer the focus of Windows 10/Windows application development from Microsoft’s perspective. After years of trying to ram Modern/Universal/whatever apps down developer’s craws, Microsoft has finally caved to reality, first in steps and then in a...