Microsoft offers ‘Arm Advisory Service’ for developers

To bolster the development of native software for Arm-powered PCs, Microsoft has unveiled its "Arm Advisory Service for developers".

The new initiative aims to ensure app compatibility for Windows on Arm, a version specifically designed for the processor architecture.

Microsoft’s announcement comes in response to research from analyst firm Counterpoint which predicts a substantial rise in the marketshare of Arm-powered PCs, from 14 percent to 25 percent by...

17 October 2023 | Developer

BUILD 2023: Microsoft wants every Windows dev ‘to be an AI developer’

Microsoft announced significant investments in tools during BUILD 2023 to democratise app development for the AI era on Windows.

Regardless of the architecture you're developing for, be it x86/x64 or Arm64, Microsoft wants to ensure that developers can easily integrate AI-powered experiences into their Windows apps, whether they run on the cloud or at the edge.

At the Build conference last year, Microsoft introduced Hybrid Loop, a development pattern that enables hybrid...

24 May 2023 | Artificial Intelligence

Windows Subsystem for Android is now considered stable

Microsoft is making good on its promise to fully support Android apps on Windows.

Following the demise of Windows Phone, Microsoft has put its weight behind Android. The company adopted Google’s OS for its Surface Phone and said that Android apps will run on Windows 11 as if they were native.

In reality, Android app support on Windows has been limited in functionality and limited to Windows Insiders in some markets. However, as of this week, Windows Subsystem for...

21 October 2022 | Android

Project Moorcraft: Xbox will pay game developers to publish demos

Xbox has unveiled Project Moorcraft, an initiative to boost the demos available on Game Pass while helping developers to earn some bucks.

This month is when game developers and fans usually flock to the E3 Expo to see the latest game reveals and platform updates and get their hands on early previews of upcoming titles.

E3 was put on hold during the pandemic and all the major gaming players switched to virtual events for their big reveals. Unfortunately, that meant lining...

9 June 2022 | Gaming

Microsoft sets out to woo regulators with ‘Open App Store Principles’

Microsoft is getting ahead of potential new laws governing app stores by announcing its Open App Store Principles.

Last week, Developer reported on Apple’s latest fight against such legislation after the company sent a letter to US lawmakers urging them to reject S. 2710—a bill that would force Apple to open its notorious “walled garden” and enable the sideloading of apps.

Microsoft has managed to avoid being the focus of high-profile antitrust investigations in...

10 February 2022 | App Stores

CAF report highlights developers’ plight from anti-competitive practices

A report from the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) highlights the difficulties that developers face due to anti-competitive practices.

CAF is an independent nonprofit with over 60 member companies that advocates for freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem. Epic Games, which has regularly made headlines for its court battles against Apple over alleged anti-competitive practices, is one of CAF’s founding members.

The industry group is currently...

1 February 2022 | Android

Microsoft: Universal Windows Platform is finally being sunset

Thomas Fennel, Principal Program Lead at Microsoft, clarified this week that Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is finally being sunset.

In an announcement on the GitHub repo for the Windows App SDK, Fennel says that UWP will only receive “bug, reliability, and security fixes,” and won’t be receiving new features. In other words, it’s being deprecated.

This won’t be of any surprise to just about, well, anyone, but Microsoft has skirted around what’s happening...

20 October 2021 | Platforms

Windows Subsystem for Linux is now delivered via the Microsoft Store

Anyone wanting to use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) should now grab it from the Microsoft Store.

WSL enables Linux binary executables to be run natively on Windows 10, 11, and Server 2019.

The compatibility layer was previously obtained through the ‘Turn Windows Features on or off’ dialogue, which required a machine restart.

By decoupling WSL’s binaries from the Windows image and making it available via the Microsoft Store, Redmond says it will help...

12 October 2021 | Developer

Windows 11’s app store supports Android apps, enables devs to keep 100% of profits

Microsoft has unveiled Windows 11 along with a new app store that supports Android apps and enables devs to keep all of their profits.

Windows’ built-in app store has never exactly been a huge success when compared to those of Apple and Google. Microsoft has made several attempts over the years to give its app store a jumpstart – including giving developers up to a 95 percent cut of profits instead of the 70 percent that has long been the industry norm – but it’s never...

24 June 2021 | App Stores

BUILD 2021: WSL now supports GUI apps, Project Reunion and Windows Terminal receive updates, Visual Studio and .NET 6 get new previews

Microsoft has used the first day of its annual BUILD conference to announce a swathe of updates to its Windows development products.

The first announcement is that support for GUI apps when using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is rolling out as of this week.

A preview of the functionality has been available since last month and is designed to allow developers to run their favourite Linux tools, utilities, and apps directly in Windows 10. Last week, Google announced...

26 May 2021 | Development Tools