The software giant announced a slew of Microsoft Store
updates including the ability to serve ads and allowing users to restore apps
when they switch to a new PC to give developers ways to make their apps more
discoverable and retain their users.
Additionally, Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm to introduce
Project Volterra as a new mini-PC to help developers build cloud-based
artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
Microsoft has introduced Project Volterra for developers to create new AI apps |
Microsoft is building toward a vision for a world of intelligent hybrid compute, bringing together local compute on the CPU, GPU, and NPU and cloud compute with Azure. Microsoft claims that in the future, moving to compute workloads between client and cloud will be as dynamic and seamless as moving between Wi-Fi and cellular on your phone today.
AI will require heavy levels of processing power beyond
capabilities of traditional CPU and GPU alone. But new silicon-like neural
processing units (NPUs) will add expanded capacity for key AI workloads.
Bringing Azure and Windows closer together will enable
developers to bring new classes of applications for commercial and consumer
customers. Microsoft has announced that this journey will begin with Windows
365, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Azure Virtual Desktop and will continue with cloud
and NPU processing on more Windows devices.
New app-building tools
Windows users can expect more apps that will be compatible
with their operating system. Developers will find it easier to build and run
their apps on Windows, whether they're .NET, web, Android, C++, Linux, or any
number of cross-platform frameworks.
For building Windows desktop apps, the Windows App SDK and
the WinUI 3 platform make it easy to build native apps for Windows 11 using C#
or C++, while still reaching users on Windows 10.
Windows 11 is getting the ability to look for apps available on the Microsoft Store directly from search |
Widgets
Widgets in Windows 11 will also introduce some new changes.
They will offer a glanceable and useful view of app content for users. Later
this year, users will be able to start building Widgets as companion
experiences for Win32 and PWA apps on Windows 11, powered by the Adaptive Cards
platform.
Developers can also leverage capabilities of touch, pen, voice, and AI, to create features that increase engagement and differentiate their apps with more natural interactions for their customers.
Microsoft is enabling PWAs to have system's native UI for sharing files Photo Credit: Microsoft |
Windows 11 is enabling developers to create widgets of their native apps Photo Credit: Microsoft |
New Store Design
With Windows 11, the tech giant has rebuilt the Microsoft
Store from the ground up for developers. The Microsoft Store on Windows gives
you the choice to use the commerce engine that we provide, with revenue share,
or their own commerce engine in their app, in which case they get to keep all
the revenue