At its Ignite 2019 conference today in Orlando, Microsoft announced that Windows UI Library (WinUI) 3.0, its upcoming user interface framework for Windows 10, is now available in an early alpha preview release.

Microsoft described WinUI 3.0 as a “full-stack UI solution” that “brings the same native controls and features found in the [Universal Windows Platform] UWP XAML framework for any Windows application, from UWP to Win32 desktop apps, and whether you’re a .NET Core developer or writing in pure, native C++. Developers can add WinUI 3.0 Alpha to new and existing UWP app projects via NuGet, just as they would with WinUI 2.x.”

In other words, the mission here is separating out the Windows 10-specific user interface capabilities from UWP, which is no longer a priority for Microsoft and its developer base. With WinUI 3.0, developers will be able to create Windows 10 apps in any environment they prefer and gain access to UI controls that were previously limited to the unpopular UWP.

You can learn more about WinUI 3.0 on GitHub.

Tagged with WinUI 3.0