Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Technical Preview Developer Tools

Microsoft has released its first-ever pre-release Windows 10 developer tools, the Visual Studio Tools for Windows 10, which run on Visual Studio 2015 CTP 6. With these tools, developers can start developing for the Windows Universal App Platform, which will eventually let them target phones, tablets, PCs, and other devices.

Visual Studio 2015 CTP (Community Technical Preview) 6 actually shipped a month ago. What’s new today is the Visual Studio Tools for Windows 10, which is available now in Technical Preview form. It’s not clear which version(s) of Windows Technical Preview 2 these tools will work with, but I’d imagine anyone looking at this will be on the latest build (10041).

To get started, you need to do the following:

1. Join the Windows Insider program if you haven’t already.
2. Install the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview 2 build as described in Windows 10 Technical Preview 2: How to Install Build 10041. Then make sure you’re completely up to date in Windows Update.
3. Install Visual Studio 2016 CTP6 if you haven’t already. (If you’re running CTP5 or earlier, uninstall your previous version of Visual Studio 2015.) There are web and ISO-based installers.
4. Install the Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview. The web stub installer is pretty small, but then it will pull down a bunch of stuff.

It’s going to be about 18 hours before I get all of this done, so there’s not much else to say and the Visual Studio Tools for Windows 10 release notes (.docx format) don’t really provide much info. There’s nothing over at the Building Apps for Windows blog yet either.

UPDATE: Microsoft has finally posted about this release on the Build Apps for Windows Blog. So check out that for more information. But two bits are of interest: universal app and driver samples on Github and a Developer’s Guide to Windows 10 Preview video series on Channel 9.