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1. If you wish to work with C++, then WinUI 3 is the latest and greatest, and the way to go. 2. WinUI 3 is the controls in UWP repackaged under a new name, but

1. If you wish to work with C++, then WinUI 3 is the latest and greatest, and the way to go. 2. WinUI 3 is the controls in UWP repackaged under a new name, but without the restrictions of UWP. The only substantial difference is a change of the root namespace from Windows to Microsoft 3 & 5. This is a sad reality of modern IDEs, it is a one off cost though, once downloaded and built for the first time it is smoother. Also, you can opt in on a component by component basis, so if you don't want them, don't download them. 6-10. If it works with Visual Studio, stick with that, don't waste your time and effort unnecessarily trying to run a complex build process in an esoteric way. If you want to use Sublime Text, then edit in that, and alt-tab back to Visual Studio to run it. I don't think you have made life easy for yourself, but there is an overwhelming choice of frameworks when starting. Rather than evolve a single framework, they seem to create a new one every 3/4 years and deprecate the predecessor. That limits the work you need to do keeping up with backwards incompatible changes in the longterm, but it makes for an miserable start to Windows app development.

pjc50 5y ago
> WinUI 3 is the latest and greatest, and the way to go. It's also brand new, hit 1.0 a couple of weeks ago, and therefore probably buggy (I hit a bug in -preview3). And it's about 100MB per app + 100MB of dependencies. > but there is an overwhelming choice of frameworks when starting. Rather than evolve a single framework, they seem to create a new one every 3/4 years and deprecate the predecessor They _don't_ deprecate the predecessor! That's the Apple approach, forcing everyone along. The predecessors are all kinda still supported with no "this will stop working" date, and you can still see WinForms controls in Win10 system tools.
- steeleduncan 5y ago
  > They _don't_ deprecate the predecessor! Sorry, I mistyped, yes, they move to maintenance mode and you can keep using it. > And it's about 100MB per app + 100MB of dependencies. As I understand it, this is because it links the entire GUI toolkit in there, so you get a consistent experience regardless of what version of Windows it runs on. 200MB is quite a lot, but its not extreme, and if it reduces the longterm maintenance cost, it could well be worth it.

pjc50 5y ago

> WinUI 3 is the latest and greatest, and the way to go. It's also brand new, hit 1.0 a couple of weeks ago, and therefore probably buggy (I hit a bug in -preview3). And it's about 100MB per app + 100MB of dependencies. > but there is an overwhelming choice of frameworks when starting. Rather than evolve a single framework, they seem to create a new one every 3/4 years and deprecate the predecessor They _don't_ deprecate the predecessor! That's the Apple approach, forcing everyone along. The predecessors are all kinda still supported with no "this will stop working" date, and you can still see WinForms controls in Win10 system tools.

steeleduncan 5y ago
> They _don't_ deprecate the predecessor! Sorry, I mistyped, yes, they move to maintenance mode and you can keep using it. > And it's about 100MB per app + 100MB of dependencies. As I understand it, this is because it links the entire GUI toolkit in there, so you get a consistent experience regardless of what version of Windows it runs on. 200MB is quite a lot, but its not extreme, and if it reduces the longterm maintenance cost, it could well be worth it.