The newly announced Windows 11 allows Android applications to run directly in Windows. In return, the operating system receives the Windows Subsystem for Android, a further development of the previous Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). In the future, Android apps can be installed on Windows 11 via a revised Windows App Store.
Microsoft is cooperating with the Amazon Appstore for this purpose. Android apps can be started and managed like native Windows applications. Technically, they run in a virtual machine; a “proxy native app” bridges the gap between the application models of Android and Windows. So Microsoft is following the example of ChromeOS with a gap of five years. Windows users have all input options (keyboard, mouse, touch and pen) available in the Android app. Microsoft also wants to support Bluetooth headsets.
Microsoft had already announced in May 2020 that it would expand the existing console-based WSL to include GUI applications. This extension was initially only available to Windows Insiders under the abbreviation WSLg in April. First notes on Android in Windows already existed at the end of 2020.
New store is open to everything
The new Microsoft Store should be open to all types of application, not just as before for those that can be distributed via the MSIX installation process or as progressive web apps (PWAs). In addition to the application types Win32, UWP, WinUI and .NET based on Microsoft technologies, Microsoft also explicitly mentioned Java-based applications, React Native and Electron applications in a live stream on Thursday.
As part of the introduction of Windows 11, there was a presentation specifically aimed at developers.
Microsoft is also increasingly addressing the topic of PWA: The manufacturer is now supplying the “PWABuilder”, which was first published in 2015 and then neglected an extended version 3. Microsoft calls the “Popup Store” the new option to integrate the Microsoft Store into other websites so that software manufacturers can easily integrate the sale of their own applications into the company website.
Software sales through Windows “Popup” store
(Image: Microsoft)
So far, Microsoft has earned 12 percent for games and 15 percent for other software on all sales in the Microsoft Store. In the future, software providers should also be able to integrate other payment systems into the new store, in which Microsoft does not want to claim any financial participation.
Building blocks migrate into the operating system
The next Windows will be the modern command input application “Windows Terminal”, which was previously available as an extension for Windows 10, as well as the WebView2-Browsersteuerelement in der “Evergreen”-Version included as an integral part. This means that hybrid applications that can be programmed with Blazor Desktop in .NET 6 run in Windows 11 without additional delivery of WebView2.
Windows Apps SDK
Microsoft also made the presentation Windows Apps SDK announced as the final name for the project previously known as Reunion to standardize the Windows32 and Windows Runtime operating system programming interfaces. The central component of the Windows Apps SDK is the user interface library Windows UI Library 3 (WinUI3), which Microsoft is placing as the joint successor to Universal Windows Apps (UWP) and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). With the controls in the WinUI3 namespace Microsoft.UI.Xaml, Microsoft wants the new surface design in Windows 11 with rounded corners as well as new symbols, fonts (Segoe UI Variable and Segoe Fluid Icons) and the new Windows 11 animations called Micro Interactions optimally support.
Rounded Windows UI3 controls on Windows 11
(Image: Microsoft)
Version 0.8, which was previously published as a preview, has been freshly updated by the development team and declared ready for production. With the version number 0.8 Microsoft expresses that not all planned functions are included yet, as the roadmap on GitHub shows. Version 1.0 of the Windows Apps SDK should – like Windows 11 – appear by the end of 2021. It should be noted that those in the Visual Studio Marketplace downloadable version 0.8 is still called Reunion.
Freely available game development kit
For game developers, Microsoft offers its Game Development Kit (GDK), which was previously only available to licensed partners. now public on GitHub at. It contains tools, libraries, and documentation for game development that are already used by many computer games. However, the GDK only applies to PC games; Xbox game developers will still need to license the enhanced GDKX.
(rme)
