The latest and greatest technology, according to Microsoft’s marketing statements, is the Universal Windows Platform. The reason for this was the need for a single runtime for mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. Until recently. Surface Duo will stick with Android, and Windows development is experiencing a rollback. Current UWP apps will no longer be eligible for distribution via the Microsoft Store. Only those based on the Windows App SDK will see the green light.
The good news is that this change is not as dramatic as it may seem. In fact, it is necessary because UWP was historically a fork of the .NET Framework. Microsoft is making a great effort to unify development stacks with .NET 6, which means that UWP was merged with .NET 5 into the Windows App SDK. XAML for UWP, originally created as a truncated version of WPF, will be called WinUI 3. This UI stack is completely decoupled from the OS and Windows 10 SDKs. These steps are logical and make sense. On the other hand, Windows (Phone / Universal) development has experienced so many earthquakes that I perfectly understand why the Microsoft Store lags behind others (like the App Store and Google Play).
Technical details are too early to judge. At first sight, it looks like the transformation of the UWP/XAML/C# app into a Windows App SDK/WinUI 3/C# app will be relatively easy. But it doesn't matter at all. As always, dependencies are what slow down the whole process. However, I’m a little optimistic because .NET 6 is a universal platform, the opposite of what the Universal Windows Platform is. Marketing will never transform the technologies behind it. Marketing is just a cover or polish, depending on how it is used.
The future is bright, as always. The truth will show up later. But one question can be asked right away – what was the whole technological drill all about?