Microsoft friendforeignat the first virtual Build conference for developers last night.
The company announced a number of new things, such as a new quantum computer created with OpenAI, a new building blocks for live collaboration in Office and Lists – a collaboration app for the Teams service.
Along with all this, the company also announced some key changes to the Windows platform for developers, such as the use of the Linux UI on Windows and a feature linesearch engine that will look like macOS Spotlight.
The following are all the announcements of the company:
project meeting
Over the past few years, Microsoft has been trying to get developers to develop Windows 10 applications that can run on all platforms - desktops and laptops, tablets, consoles and smartphones. In 2015, it renamed universal apps to Windows apps. But Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Win32 APIs (consider desktop applications) existed separately. According to the company, not anymore.
Last night it announced Project Reunion, an attempt to merge both of these APIs into one umbrella. As part of this effort, Microsoft released WinUI 3 Preview 1 - a UI framework for Windows. You can see more features on the GitHub page at Project Reunion.
Microsoft hopes this project will entice developers to develop more universal apps.
PowerToys Run launcher alternative to macOS Spotlight
If you've used a MacBook or an iMac, you've probably used Spotlight Search to find apps, files, and more. Microsoft is reportedly trying to emulate Apple's service with something called the PowerToys Run launcher.
This is a new version of the popular RUN which we have known for many years. It will be able to execute all RUN commands but will also contain plugins for custom web searches.
You can download and view the PowerToys Run code by GitHub.
Windows Terminal 1.0 for businesses
Windows Terminal is a command line application for developers. It helps them to run commands in Windows, on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distro or the Azure Cloud Shell.
Microsoft released this application for corporate use yesterday. Allows you to run commands on different tabs and windows and customize the UI to suit your needs.
Linux GUI apps on Windows
Microsoft allows more Linux features in Windows 10. The company offers full support for the Linux kernel of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and will see you later this month. Apart from this, it will also support applications with their GUI (Graphical User Interface from the Graphical User Interface) and will allow accelerations from the GPU hardware for better visual performance.
Until now, developers had to use a third-party server to run Linux applications with a GUI. With this new update, these applications will be able to run without additional software.
Microsoft has announced many more for Windows developers. You can see it company blog for more details.
