"Project REUNION" sent by MS in order to return to desktop applications from ASCII.jp UWP

So, why do separate imitations... become the Windows8 of black history

The story can be traced back to Windows 8. Now Windows8, which is gradually sealed as the black history of Microsoft, has created two application execution environments: the modern environment and the desktop environment.

The "separation" between UWP and Win32 begins with Windows8. Although it is micro-software that attaches importance to store applications, Windows8 is also very popular, and the software of store applications has been in a state of depression. In Windows10, this is UWP, which tries to attract developers because it can develop both smartphone and web applications.

The API set created for this modern environment is Windows Runtime. Although it is sometimes marked as WinRT after shortening, I just want to control something different from Windows RT.

WinRT is an API that refers to Android and iOS and is defined as an API that is easy to create leisure applications. The Win32/64API previously used also envisioned creating a huge application, such as Word and Excel, so the functionality of each API is very fine. In Win32/64API, you can combine fine functions and create any application yourself.

In contrast, WinRT makes the envisioned application easier to create, but it is not suitable for any application. For example, Win32/64API, like Lego, combines widgets to create applications. WinRT, by contrast, has larger parts and envisions a certain degree of use, like parts of plastic models. So, while pre-conceived applications are easy to make, things that are not are quite restrictive. Although it is very simple to buy a mass-produced Zack and make it into a Shah Zack, it is still very difficult to make it up to Gao Da.

However, as far as WinRT is concerned, this makes sense because it is not a "replacement" of the previous Win32/64API, but a combination of it. The problem is that it almost completely separates the modern environment from the desktop environment. In the initial stage, in modern and desktop applications, the degree of copying and pasting of text is possible, for example, launching desktop applications from modern applications, and vice versa.

It's like embedding a completely independent modern environment in a traditional Windows desktop environment. This is because the app is sold for a fee in the store, so it maintains a high level of security. In addition, Microsoft has positioned storage applications as the mainstream of Windows applications and is committed to its promotion. It seems to dream of promoting WinRT, transferring the ecosystem of Windows to the modern environment, and then to a refreshing world of API.

But in reality, store applications are not accepted by developers. Since there are already Android and iOS app stores, commerce is enough, so there are very few new developers to add Windows storage applications with a completely different structure, and existing developers continue to work on Win32 applications. And, of course, the Windows8 rating is not high, which has become a black history.

The ones that are trying to fix this are UWP and UWP applications. This time, for UWP applications, it increases the possibility of smartphone and web applications. He claims that killing three birds with one stone can be easily converted into Android and iOS software as long as it is developed on UWP. To this end, it has acquired Xamalin, a platform for smartphone application development, or announced a "bridge" project that can easily port Android and iOS applications to Windows and Windows Mobile.

He also bought the smartphone business from Nokia and even provided Windows Mobile smartphones himself. It also ends in a dream. Windows Mobile itself is hardly popular, and the company's smartphone platform is over.

Since the goal is to run on multiple platforms, only API that removes Windows-specific features is left on the UWP side. On the other hand, Win32 is still a dwarfed UI component compared to UWP, and in retrospect, both are beginning to become lonely platforms. It has been surpassed by smartphones on the basis of the number of units, and Windows is also at a disadvantage in the tablet market. Moreover, Google is also trying to run Linux on Chromebook to make Android software development possible.

That's why what must be done now is to restore the Win32 desktop environment, which still has a large number of developers, to an "attractive" platform. At this time, Microsoft is trying to gain a foothold in two areas. One is Windows as a development platform.

Needless to say for Windows applications, PC with Windows in embedded and various languages is now a standard environment for developers. No matter what, protect it and let it expand further, which will lead to the survival of Windows. There is a series of development tools and WSL. Open source software, such as VSCode and Windows Terminal, is designed to keep developers tied to Windows. The WSL2 roadmap is shown in this Build Windows, which is also a "message" to enhance this direction.

The other is the market for traditional Windows and its user-oriented Windows applications. Although it is lonely, companies should use a lot of Windows PC to work every day, and many ordinary families will also use it. This kind of application market for Windows users still has more than a certain scale. Project REUNION introduces "rich" UI components and various technologies for UWP applications to Win32 applications to make Win32 desktop environment equal to Win32 desktop applications.

It can be said that the revival of Windows depends on the revival of the Win32 desktop application market. It can not be said that only Microsoft's Office can sell the market has "vitality", if new developers can not be expected to join, as the market can only decline. The author, as a Sunday programmer at the end of the field, is very concerned about how much will change this year.

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