Windows Template Studio - reborn!

It was only a few weeks ago that I publicly announced that I'd given up on Microsoft taking the Windows Template Studio forward and so I was going to do it myself.

Now, things are changing again.

• The official Microsoft project has been reborn as just Template Studio. (Yes, that's the name I was going to use too.)
• I'll be bringing the work I've done on my own back to Microsoft's repository and the Windows-related apps that can be generated with it will all come from Microsoft.
• I'll continue contributing as a "community member".
• The extensions I've already released as previews (for UWP, & WPF) will stay as previews and be removed once official Microsoft equivalent versions become available.
• I'm reserving the right to build my own extensions that can be used for things other than Windows apps.
• There's more on the official roadmap.

As expected, the most common question right now is about the timeline.

The answer is that it's likely to take a few more weeks.

This is because:

• I can't take my work "as is" and copy it all over. There are things I can't, don't want to, and shouldn't share from my code.
• What's required in the official repo is different from my personal requirements.
• There's functionality my version has removed that I need to find ways to reinstate for the official/public version.
• There are still [regression] issues in my version (the previews) that I need to fix.

How can you help?

• Try out the preview versions I've released. (There are some things that behave differently in the release builds and so need testing widely--which I can't do in testing.)
• Raise any bugs or issues for things you find. (Are there things I've missed? If no one reports the things that I think are regressions, maybe they don't need fixing...)
• Consider becoming a sponsor. You'll be credited in the previews and elsewhere, but I obviously can't include such images in the official Microsoft version. :(

Any other questions? You know where I am. ;) 

Forking Windows Template Studio

Windows Template Studio is a Visual Studio extension that helps developers scaffold Windows applications. 

I have a long, complicated relationship with the project and have been involved since its inception.

In June, Microsoft stopped funding the internal team who were working on it. I was told there were plans to continue the project with support from the community, but this didn't happen, and my emails have gone unanswered since then. 😢

Sadly, due to the way the project is set up and configured and because of the permissions I have, it's impossible to do anything significant within the existing repo.

So I'm taking it upon myself to do something separately.

Announcing Template Studio for UWP. (preview for VS2022 available now!)

Yes, it looks very similar to the Windows Template Studio wizard.

I'm starting by taking the UWP (and then WPF) capabilities of WinTS and breaking them into separate extensions that work with Visual Studio 2022.

WinUI(3) support will hopefully follow. As will support for creating apps that don't only run on Windows.

There's lots of detail I'll spare you from, but the bits most likely to be of interest are:

- My goal is to help developers now. (When Microsoft has left them in a state of uncertainty.)

- I'm updating the dependencies in the generated apps and will add other improvements and new functionality.

- I want to reduce the dependencies on developers installing the extension(s). You shouldn't need the capability to build any/every type of Windows app just to use the extension.

- I'm starting by focusing on the parts of WinTS that are less likely to be supported by Microsoft (UWP & WPF) if they do resume development (& support) of WinTS.

I'm open to contributing to the WinTS project again, but I'm not just sitting around while I wait.

- I'm doing this in a way that gives me the best opportunity to do other things with the code in the future. (Look at me being all mysterious. 😉)

- I'm taking the opportunity to make some much-needed (in my opinion) updates to the project and its internal dependencies. 

- It's not open source (yet), but I'm not ruling it out for the future. (I have many reasons that I'll save for another day/time/place.)

It's in preview now & I'd love feedback.

What should you do with your UWP app?

Originally, the expectation was that WinUI3  would have support for both "Desktop" and "UWP" app models.

The focus was initially on Desktop with the promise that UWP would follow. Now, it's looking more and more likely that UWP might never be fully supported by WinUI3.

I can see this as a realistic scenario. The intention might be that one-day UWP support is added but it looks like it's very low priority and there are a lot of other things in front of it.

So, what if you have a UWP app?

If your app is only used on a desktop/PC then consider converting it to WinUI. Probably wait for WinAppSDK v1.0 and check that everything you need is possible in WinUI3 but that's your future.

If your UWP app is for use on desktop/PC and Xbox then you'll need to stick with UWP while we wait on future announcements.

If you're still hoping for a return of Windows Phone, then I can't help you.

Or, you could just keep it as it is. It should be good for a few more years at least.