14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has announced at the Build 2016 developer conference that developers can now bring their desktop programs in the Windows Store as universal apps with the help of Project Centennial, and it appears that the next preview build of Windows 10 will already come with improvements in this regard.
The Centennial bridge will make its debut in the next insider build of Windows 10, and although no specifics have been provided on this one, the company is expected to provide us with a new build sometime next week.
This should allow developers to start work on universal app versions of their software and bring Win32 and .NET applications in the store ahead of the public launch of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, also known among Windows users as the “Redstone” update.
The software giant believes that the time remaining until the debut of the Anniversary Update, which should land in July, is enough for devs to bring some of their old desktop apps in the store, but we will have to wait and see if this is indeed possible or not.
Your desktop app on every Windows device
During a session on the first day at Build, Microsoft explained that developers need to follow just a few simple steps to convert a desktop program to universal app, such as converting the app using the Desktop App Converter, deploying and testing the app, enhancing the app using UWP features, and completing the port to run on all Windows 10 devices.
“Reach every Windows device. Once all functionality moves from the full-trust portion of your app and into the app container portion, your app will be able to reach every Windows device,” Microsoft says.
Certainly, this could help the company address the lack of apps on modern platforms and make the Windows Store the one destination for everything on Windows 10, but it’ll still take time until everyone ports desktop apps to the universal platform.