6 things Windows developers should know about the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update has been available to the public for nearly one month, including a number of new capabilities for Windows developers. Here’s just a smattering of what’s in store for you with the newest Windows release.
- Windows continues to invest heavily in virtual reality/mixed reality scenarios.
Analysts such as Forrester are predicting that virtual and mixed reality sales will reach 52 million units in the US by 2020. Windows 10 enables you to create amazing virtual and mixed reality scenarios. Check out the Windows “Mixed Reality Viewer” app to get a glimpse into Mixed Reality, even if you only have webcam hardware.
Use cases are on the rise for Virtual/Mixed Reality in a variety of industries: from advanced data visualization to engineering or inspection applications. For example, CDM Smith has used Microsoft Mixed Reality to create robust mixed-reality solutions to visualize construction onsite before building it.
2. The Fluent Design System makes it easier for developers to create applications that feel natural, while driving more engagement with users.
The Microsoft Fluent Design System made its formal debut in Windows with the Fall Creators Update. It’s now a key part of the design language for native Windows applications, and enables developers to create software that looks and feels modern.
The latest Windows SDK makes it easy to incorporate Fluent Design elements into Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, incorporating light, depth, motion, materials and scale to provide better user experiences.
3. Support for .NET Standard 2.0 with Universal Windows Platform applications.
Support for .NET Standard 2.0 in UWP applications greatly expands the number and depth of APIs available to developers by exposing over 2,000 new APIs for developers to add to their UWP applications, and, at the same time, makes it easier to share code with other .NET platforms (or to migrate legacy .NET applications forward to UWP).
4. The Fall Creators Update enables richer Surface Dial support.
While the Fall Creators Update includes some excellent user-oriented improvements to Inking such as Find My Pen and smarter pen or stylus navigation, it also incorporates enhancements for the Surface Dial input system. Complex applications which use the same surface dial configuration on many screens or views can now share a single RadialController across the entire application.
5. Support for eye tracking devices, enabling new levels of accessibility for Windows applications.
The Fall Creators Update includes support for special eye tracking hardware such as the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C, enabling Windows 10 to recognize a person’s gaze as a way of interacting with their Windows PC. While this is a potential boon for customers with special accessibility needs, it also means developers might want to think about menu placement for their applications, to make it easy for people to navigate their applications by eye.
6. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements for IOT and cross-platform developers.
With the Fall Creators Update, many improvements have been made to the WSL. This is great news for developers who work with multiple types of apps, such as a Windows desktop app developer whose Web APIs are deployed to Linux servers and must be sure that those APIs are able to work correctly once deployed.
It is now possible to install multiple Linux distros side-by-side from the Windows Store (currently Ubuntu and SUSE, but Fedora and others are coming), even on systems where “developer mode” has not been enabled. The WSL also now has access to USB/Serial communications ports on the PC as well as the ability to mount USB and network devices. Furthermore, WSL is no longer in beta and is officially supported as a component of the Windows operating system.
Bonus Tip:
- Game Bar can be used to capture video and screenshots from any application.
With the Fall Creators Update, any application can take advantage of the new Game Bar feature (including applications which are not, in fact, games). This makes it very easy to capture screenshots or video recordings of an application for troubleshooting and documentation purposes. The Game Bar is also able to stream any application over the web live via Mixer.
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