Modernizing Your Windows Applications with the Windows App SDK and WinUI

Expand your desktop apps to support new features and deliver an integrated Windows 11 experience

Matteo Pagani

Marc Plogas

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Modernizing Your Windows Applications with the Windows App SDK and WinUI

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To my wife, Angela, for being a constant source of love, inspiration, and support. And to my daughter, Giulia, for teaching me to see the world from a different perspective.

– Matteo Pagani

Dedicated to anyone who still holds on to reason and scientific knowledge in today's turbulent times.

– Marc Plogas

Contributors

About the authors

Matteo Pagani is the lead of the Windows App Consult team in Microsoft. In his role, he supports developers and companies all around the world, enabling them to learn and adopt the latest development tools and technologies in the Microsoft 365 and .NET ecosystem. He has a strong passion for client development, which he loves to share with other developers by writing articles, blog posts, and books, and by speaking at conferences all around the world. Before joining Microsoft, he was a Microsoft MVP in the Windows Development category and a Nokia Developer Champion for almost 5 years.

I would like to thank my wife, Angela, and my daughter, Giulia, for their ongoing support and patience during the writing process. Next, I wish to thank my friend Marc for being a partner in crime. Then I would like to thank Sebastien Bovo and Xianghui Li for the excellent feedback they provided during the review process. Lastly, I would like to thank Microsoft and the App Consult team for supporting me on this journey.

Marc Plogas is an Azure AppConsult engineer at Microsoft and was on the Windows AppConsult team in his previous role. He works with start-ups and large companies on IoT, mixed reality, and software architecture. Tinkering with computers has always been his passion – since the tender age of 6. Therefore, he is interested in many development topics, including client development and machine learning, and enjoys all the challenges that can be solved with software engineering. Before joining Microsoft, Marc was a freelance software developer for many years, creating mobile and LoB applications.

First, I would like to thank my wife and daughter for their support, encouragement, and patience. I would also like to thank my friend Matteo, who covered my back more than once and encouraged me with memes and GIFs. I would also like to thank my team lead, David, who helped me free up time to work on the book. I would also like to thank my work-family at Microsoft, namely, both AppConsult teams, for the opportunity they have given me, especially my colleagues, Sebastien Bovo and Xianghui Li, for their feedback.

About the reviewers

Sebastien Bovo has been a member of the worldwide Windows AppConsult team dedicated to the Windows Enterprise Developer product group at Microsoft. His everyday life involves helping customers, partners, and developers in creating Windows and holographic applications. He has worked on Proof of Concept, debugged code, and provided knowledge transfers and workshops for developers.

He loves sharing his experience and knowledge with others to make them better! In particular, he has been a speaker at technical conferences, including BUILD in Seattle, IGNITE in Orlando, and around Europe for the Windows Insider Dev Tour!

Sebastien has just assumed the role of cloud solution architect to help customers modernize and innovate with Microsoft Cloud.

Xianghui Li has solid solution analysis skills and extensive development experience in .NET, web solutions, and distributed systems. He has mastered Azure IaaS and PaaS, as well as IoT deployment, development, and troubleshooting. He is good at unmanaged/managed debugging and has successfully designed, developed, and released several debugging diagnostic tools in Global Azure and Microsoft Internal.

He now works as a Windows Application Consult in Microsoft, focusing on Microsoft 365, Windows development, and cutting-edge software techniques.