11 ms·

Microsoft seems to have tried to unify their developer story in many incarnations now. So my biggest question is, why will this one succeed where others have fa

Microsoft seems to have tried to unify their developer story in many incarnations now. So my biggest question is, why will this one succeed where others have failed? I see absolutely no evidence to suggest this is better than previous attempts.

draw_down 6y ago
Yeah, this really has the flavor of that webcomic about "14 competing standards -> one to unify them all -> 15 competing standards"
wvenable 6y ago
Microsoft wanted to unify their developer story around UWP (in all it's incarnations) and that never took hold. This is a realization of that and re-focus on bringing all their development frameworks up to modern standards (even Winforms!) Supporting developers were they are is likely to be much more successful than supporting developers were they wanted them to go.
criddell 6y ago
The consumer Windows ecosystem (excluding games) feels moribund. When is the last time that anybody was excited about some new or improved Windows program? Everything interesting seems to be happening either on mobile or on MacOS. There's still lots going on in the commercial / enterprise space, but that stuff is either old and Win32 or new and in the browser. Who is using UWP?
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Anyone that wants to access any new Windows API introduced since Vista, where they re-focused on COM to deliver the ideas that failed with .NET on Longhorn. So if you are using pure old style Win32, you will be using a view of the computing world stuck in Windows XP.
  - criddell 6y ago
    > you will be using a view of the computing world stuck in Windows XP That's kind of what I was getting at when I said the Windows ecosystem (excluding games) is moribund.
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      If having 90% of the desktop market, with a good base of Fortune 500 and SMEs is moribund, I really like Zombies.
      - criddell 6y ago
        Inertia is a helluva thing. For the record, I'm a Windows desktop developer. It's a great place to make a living, I just wish there was a little more vitality here on the consumer side. On MacOS an independent developer (or small shop) making great software can still sell it at $50-$100 to enough people to make a living. For some reason it's harder to do on Windows even though the market is far bigger. I'm thinking of software like Things or Fantastical. High quality, polished, reasonably priced with an enthusiastic user base.
        pjmlp 6y ago
        Only if you live in US or similar populated OS X countries. I have been in plenty of countries where there isn't any Mac to be found.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
Anybody who has been targeting Windows for a while will have recognised this pattern recurring every couple of years. A nice new shiny framework that within a couple of years is stuck in the twilight zone, neither dead nor pushing forward. Personally I got burnt out on it a long time ago and won't be migrating to this or any other new MS UI technology.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Try to develop for Android and you will miss Windows development, I did and was doing it just as hobby, thankfully not 8h a day.

draw_down 6y ago

Yeah, this really has the flavor of that webcomic about "14 competing standards -> one to unify them all -> 15 competing standards"

wvenable 6y ago

Microsoft wanted to unify their developer story around UWP (in all it's incarnations) and that never took hold. This is a realization of that and re-focus on bringing all their development frameworks up to modern standards (even Winforms!) Supporting developers were they are is likely to be much more successful than supporting developers were they wanted them to go.

criddell 6y ago

The consumer Windows ecosystem (excluding games) feels moribund. When is the last time that anybody was excited about some new or improved Windows program? Everything interesting seems to be happening either on mobile or on MacOS. There's still lots going on in the commercial / enterprise space, but that stuff is either old and Win32 or new and in the browser. Who is using UWP?

pjmlp 6y ago
Anyone that wants to access any new Windows API introduced since Vista, where they re-focused on COM to deliver the ideas that failed with .NET on Longhorn. So if you are using pure old style Win32, you will be using a view of the computing world stuck in Windows XP.
- criddell 6y ago
  > you will be using a view of the computing world stuck in Windows XP That's kind of what I was getting at when I said the Windows ecosystem (excluding games) is moribund.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    If having 90% of the desktop market, with a good base of Fortune 500 and SMEs is moribund, I really like Zombies.
    - criddell 6y ago
      Inertia is a helluva thing. For the record, I'm a Windows desktop developer. It's a great place to make a living, I just wish there was a little more vitality here on the consumer side. On MacOS an independent developer (or small shop) making great software can still sell it at $50-$100 to enough people to make a living. For some reason it's harder to do on Windows even though the market is far bigger. I'm thinking of software like Things or Fantastical. High quality, polished, reasonably priced with an enthusiastic user base.
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        Only if you live in US or similar populated OS X countries. I have been in plenty of countries where there isn't any Mac to be found.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

Anybody who has been targeting Windows for a while will have recognised this pattern recurring every couple of years. A nice new shiny framework that within a couple of years is stuck in the twilight zone, neither dead nor pushing forward. Personally I got burnt out on it a long time ago and won't be migrating to this or any other new MS UI technology.

pjmlp 6y ago
Try to develop for Android and you will miss Windows development, I did and was doing it just as hobby, thankfully not 8h a day.