Windows 10 X : UWP neo

So, from this blog post, the death of UWP is greatly exaggerated:

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2019/10/02/introducing-windows-10x-enabling-dual-screen-pcs-in-2020/

The better come up with a much better story to sell this – I understand that the WinRT api is much better for power management, mobile, etc. but clearly not as rich as Win32 – and this doesn’t really explain how Xamarin fits in with all this going forward either. There’s a lot of explaining for .NET 5.0 and Windows development to make the story coherent for developers.

Conversation 35 comments

  • fpalmieri

    07 October, 2019 - 10:40 am

    <p>Oh, and will apps from the Neo and Duo be able to be developed from the same code base?</p>

    • gavinwilliams

      08 October, 2019 - 1:52 am

      <blockquote><a href="#478255"><em>In reply to fpalmieri:</em></a><em> We only know that they will be able to be in the same way as today. We have to wait for .Net 5 and new templates to allow us to deliver UWP apps using .Net 5 (.Net Core today). Things like Xamarin will continue to be a solution until then. And of course you have to consider that you may use a universal application template but the UI or other part may be platform specific and vice versa.</em></blockquote>

  • ErichK

    Premium Member
    07 October, 2019 - 10:44 am

    <p>Have to admit the software development landscape in the Microsoft and/or Windows universe does seem to be getting rather complicated lately.</p>

    • Winner

      09 October, 2019 - 12:50 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478256">In reply to ErichK:</a></em></blockquote><p>Lately? Seems like they've been architecturally a mess for a very, very long time.</p>

      • ErichK

        Premium Member
        09 October, 2019 - 3:26 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#479249">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>A combination of trying to move forward while supporting everything from the past as well.</p>

      • BrandonK

        Premium Member
        10 October, 2019 - 9:32 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#479249">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>Amen. I've been writing Windows utilities and line of business apps professionally for 24 years (Windows 3.11 and VB3 in 1995) and I've never been more confused about what Microsoft tools/frameworks I should use to do my job.</p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    07 October, 2019 - 11:07 am

    <p>This post doesn't mention UWP at all? </p><p><br></p><p>It just says what I reported, that Microsoft will explain the developer story later. </p><p><br></p><p>What it does say is "Windows apps, whether they were written in the last month or five years ago." This suggests, Win32, WinForms, WPF, and UWP. </p><p><br></p><p>Why does everyone have such a bug up their ass about me accurately reporting what we were told at Build?</p><p><br></p>

    • lwetzel

      Premium Member
      07 October, 2019 - 11:18 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478262">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>It is the world today. All confrontation.</p>

    • ErichK

      Premium Member
      07 October, 2019 - 3:07 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478262">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>Hope I didn't offend you Paul, I didn't mean to. It's just … what with Windows 10X, regular Windows 10, Windows on ARM, and now an Android Surface, etc., etc., … well … just seems like it's a little all over the place at the moment.</p>

    • dontbeevil

      07 October, 2019 - 11:57 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478262">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>So why the comment with the diagram disappeared? </p>

      • christian.hvid

        08 October, 2019 - 11:41 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#478549">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>I posted it, Paul deleted it. I'm guessing that posting images directly instead of linking violates the site rules. No big deal. <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10x-everything-you-need-to-know-about-microsofts-windows-10-variant/&quot; target="_blank">Here's the original</a> in case you're interested.</p>

        • Paul Thurrott

          Premium Member
          09 October, 2019 - 7:48 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#478777">In reply to christian.hvid:</a></em></blockquote><p>I have no idea what you're talking about. The only site rules I enforce are for spam and personal attacks. </p>

          • christian.hvid

            09 October, 2019 - 11:39 am

            <blockquote><em><a href="#479126">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>In that case it was deleted automatically for some reason – and I really don't care. But I hope you're not implying that I'm guilty of either spam or personal attacks?</p>

          • dontbeevil

            10 October, 2019 - 3:40 am

            <blockquote><em><a href="#479126">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>ok I will start to keep screenshot of some comments, just in case</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      09 October, 2019 - 11:57 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478262">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>"UWP is dead" was a great quote to get, and obviously a very provocative one. The quote may be accurately reported but it seems disingenuous to suggest there's nothing more to say, or to be surprised by people's reaction. </p>

  • factoryoptimizr

    07 October, 2019 - 2:34 pm

    <p>Microsoft's confusing developer story is beginning to take focus, though clarity is still a year or two away. .NET Core server-side and WinUI (son of UWP) UI-side. These should converge late next year in .NET 5. In the short-to-medium term, Xamarin is the cross-platform mobile solution, allowing Android &amp; iOS development using C#/XAML (though not the "standard" flavor of XAML). Over the longer term, Blazor (or some derivative) becomes the true "unversal" cross-platform solution, enabling development of browser pages, PWAs, web apps (using WebAssembly) and, ultimately, native cross-platform development for both mobile and desktop (using the theoretical Blazor Native) — all using C# and the UI rendering language of your choice. Interestingly, the Uno framework provides much of this capability today, using C# and standard WinUI/UWP XAML for UI. Given the participation of several heavy hitters from Microsoft Dev at last month's #UnoConf, Uno could be the dark horse that finally brings things together.</p>

    • Usman

      Premium Member
      07 October, 2019 - 3:41 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478357">In reply to FactoryOptimizr:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Uno apps ported to other platforms are great, but it is absolutely horrible for a web use case. It's a technical marvel, but if you were going to do a cross platform app including web, I wouldn't pick Uno.</p><p><br></p><p>The way they've implemented web assembly is ridiculously slow and unless its enterpise where users have a fast internet connection are expected to wait 30-40 seconds for the initial page load when downloading 6MB mono runtime in web assembly. </p><p><br></p><p>The Windows 10 calculator in Uno for web is a whopping 50 MBs and takes 22seconds to initially load on a gigabit connection and a high end i7 machine ( <a href="https://calculator.platform.uno/&quot; target="_blank">https://calculator.platform.uno/</a&gt; )</p><p><br></p>

    • Tony Barrett

      09 October, 2019 - 12:39 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478357">In reply to FactoryOptimizr:</a></em></blockquote><p>That could all be too late. Clarity still 'a year or two away' could be everything a developer needs to shift away from Microsoft. Besides, MS keep moving the goalposts all the time anyway – most Devs don't know where they stand, and if they invest their time, effort and money, whether MS will just throw them under a bus again as they've already done many times.</p>

    • jules_wombat

      09 October, 2019 - 2:48 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478357">In reply to FactoryOptimizr:</a></em></blockquote><p>Exactly – its all pretty confusing and too complex picture for developers to show any interest about. </p><p><em>What exactly is </em><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> WinUI (son of UWP) UI-side</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> ? is it yet a another .NET Client side UI attempt ? – Does it run on Android, Linux and in Web browsers – if not, whys should any developer start investing in yet another failed Microsoft client technology ? </span> </p><p>Nope. The Developers moved on long ago, after the Build 2011 fiasco. </p><p>[n.b. I sometime attempt to develop Xamarin Android Apps, in C#, but the Visual Studio UI Emulator fails the whole UI development experience. Its really Not it for Purpose, and should be scrapped.] </p>

  • gavinwilliams

    08 October, 2019 - 1:58 am

    <p>"WinRT&nbsp;… <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">clearly not as rich as Win32&nbsp;" – That's not clear to me at all anymore, considering the pace of WinRT API development. There are only 2 features now for game development that separate WinRT from Win32 ..</span></p><p><br></p><ol><li>Win32 can suspend taskbar/titlebar, UWP cannot</li><li>Win32 can be distributed anywhere, UWP cannot</li></ol><p><br></p><p>PS. This is just my perspective. AAA dev's may have more differences to list. And obviously I'm not speaking for consumer and enterprise app development. But WinRT has a large coverage now, I would be surprised if there was a single productivity app I couldn't make for WinRT/UWP – For example Photoshop, 3DS Max etc could be made with WinRT/UWP given enough manpower of course</p>

    • dontbeevil

      08 October, 2019 - 10:12 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#478558">In reply to GavinWilliams:</a></em></blockquote><ol><li>Win32 can suspend taskbar/titlebar, UWP cannot</li></ol><p>what exactly do you mean?</p><ol><li>Win32 can be distributed anywhere, UWP cannot</li></ol><p>absolutely false</p><p><br></p>

  • dontbeevil

    08 October, 2019 - 10:11 am

    <p>if this picture will not keep disappear from the comments for some strange reasons, it will clarify many doubts</p><p>zdnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2019/10/01/ca9cbf9b-6b3e-4156-979d-884524b082da/fe40bdc036a19a11d1c11d491d186fba/win32onwcos.jpg</p>

  • parth7878

    09 October, 2019 - 12:31 pm

    <p><span style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">The&nbsp;</span><strong style="color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">UWP</strong><span style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">&nbsp;Dropbox app on</span><a href="letsgetstartaffiliate.com" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">&nbsp;</a><a href="letsgetstartaffiliate.com" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(106, 106, 106);"><strong>Windows 10</strong></a><a href="letsgetstartaffiliate.com" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">&nbsp;and Xbox has received a new upda</a><span style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">te in the Store which brings some great performance improvements and an enhanced UI inspired by Project&nbsp;</span><strong style="color: rgb(106, 106, 106);">NEON</strong><span style="color: rgb(84, 84, 84);">.&nbsp;According to the app’s developer Rudy Huyn, this app was designed to carry a transparent blurry menu on</span></p>

  • the escalation

    09 October, 2019 - 5:54 pm

    <p>It's dead.</p><p><br></p><p>I don't get why people can't face the facts. Sure, current UWP apps will continue to exist in a void as they always have, and developers can and will update them if they see fit, but for all intents and purposes – UWP is dead. If UWP were still viable, you wouldn't have seen Microsoft go with Android for the Surface Duo. </p>

  • dontbeevil

    10 October, 2019 - 3:39 am

    <p>For some reasons there is a personal war against UWP, but let's provide some facts:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1- zdnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2019/10/01/ca9cbf9b-6b3e-4156-979d-884524b082da/fe40bdc036a19a11d1c11d491d186fba/win32onwcos.jpg (maybe they didn't make UWP apps big and clear enough)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>2- was never mentioned the number of sessions about UWP at MS ignite, but they keep mentioning the lack of UWP sessions at PREVIOUS conferences</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>3- was never mentioned for example that Adobe Fresco is UWP, but they rushed to mention that Gears5 is win32 and not UWP</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I like to end with a quote from thurrot:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>"Every year, some pretentious tech blogger has to remind his tech-infatuated (and probably Apple-loving) readers that there’s an Android update problem."</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>you can just adapt this to your needs ;)</p>

    • lwetzel

      Premium Member
      10 October, 2019 - 10:22 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#479455">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>Why all the white (or black if in Dark Mode) space??</p>

      • dontbeevil

        24 October, 2019 - 8:54 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#479537">In reply to lwetzel:</a></em></blockquote><p>which space?</p>

        • lwetzel

          Premium Member
          24 October, 2019 - 1:40 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#483172">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>Sooooo…. you don't see all the blank space in your post.</p>

          • Greg Green

            25 October, 2019 - 7:15 am

            <blockquote><em><a href="#483234">In reply to lwetzel:</a></em></blockquote><p>He doesn’t see a lot when he’s in the fanboy zone.</p>

  • dontbeevil

    24 October, 2019 - 8:53 am

    <p>Probably we're not going to see this news here: Rudy Huyn moved to MS to focus on UWP development</p><p>windowscentral.com/well-known-uwp-developer-rudy-huyn-joins-microsoft</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      24 October, 2019 - 10:57 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#483171">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>He's been on Microsoft's payroll for a while. :)</p>

      • dontbeevil

        24 October, 2019 - 12:48 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#483188">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>maybe, It's not what matters … what's more important that this shows the MS focus on UWP development, including all the UWP session on the upcoming MS Ignite :)</p>

  • juan

    24 October, 2019 - 9:40 am

    <p>I read that Hitler is also alive and well.</p><p>Supposedly he is in his secret base in Antarctica plotting his return.</p><p><br></p><p>Just saying….. </p>

  • ghostrider

    25 October, 2019 - 2:32 am

    <p>MS can carry on as long as they want with UWP – it's just their customers, users and developers who aren't using it. The MS app store is still barren, 98% of WIndows users still sit in a browser (usually Chrome) and any apps they do use are win32. Don't forget, UWP has been around since 2012 in one form or another, and it's gone pretty much… nowhere. The primary reason is, it was developed for mobile – the desktop just happened to be able to run the apps as well, but on the desktop, they don't have much real point.</p>

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