Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP)

A platform for Windows 10 devices

By: Joshua Copeland

Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 apps target an operating system.

Old vs. New

With Windows 10 apps targets one or more device families.

Windows 10 Editions Announced

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Mobile

Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 Enterprise

Windows 10 Education

Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise

Developer Checklist

InstallationWindows 10 Insider Preview• http://insider.windows.com/

Visual Studio 2015 RC• http://www.visualstudio.com

The Visual Studio installer includes the Windows 10 SDK

ExtrasMicrosoft Account• Windows Developer License

Hyper-V (hardware dependent)• Phone emulator

Supported Programming Languages

Visual C# and XAML

Visual Basic and XAML

Visual C++ and DirectX, DirectX/XAML

JavaScript and HTML5

For existing Android™ developers, ”Project Astoria” will enable you to build apps using Android code to target Windows 10 phones without having to leave your Android IDE.

In addition to extending the IDE, ”Project Astoria” will include a Windows phone emulator and interop capabilities that help your app (including UI and services) to run and look great on the Windows platform.

More information about ”Project Astoria” will be made available in Summer 2015, but in the meantime we are offering an invite-only preview for those interested in giving early feedback.

Android Runtime

For existing iOS® developers, ”Project Islandwood” will enable you to build a universal Windows app from within Visual Studio 2015 using your existing Objective-C® code.

You will be able to import your Xcode® project into Visual Studio, tailor the app experience to run on each Windows device family, and extend your iOS code to take advantage of Universal Windows Platform capabilities.

More information about ”Project Islandwood” will be made available in Summer 2015, but in the meantime we are offering an invite-only preview for those interested in giving early feedback.

iOS

”Project Centennial” will make it possible to package and publish your current .NET and Win32-based Windows applications to the Windows Store, providing a new way of distributing and monetizing your application on Windows PCs.

In addition to packaging your application for Store distribution, ”Project Centennial” will also enable you to take advantage of Universal Windows Platform capabilities and APIs.

More information about ”Project Centennial” will be made available in Summer 2015.

Classic Windows apps

Windows 10 will make it easy for you to create a Windows app that packages your website for publishing to the Store. Once installed, your website can update and call Windows APIs from JavaScript, creating a more engaging user experience.

Publishing your website into the store will be as easy as providing your URL and clicking ‘publish’. ”Project Westminster” will also enable you to light-up additional device capabilities in your packaged website.

”Project Westminster” is planned for release in Summer 2015.

Web Apps (That’s us)

Windows 10operating system

Bridging technologies

Win32

desktop

Web

hosted

Java

Android

Obj.C

iOS

Universal Windows Platform

JSC++

& CX

.Netlanguage

s

HTMLDirectX

XAML

C++

.Netlanguages

MFCWFWPF

.Netruntime

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