What's new for developers

This section curates the latest platform capabilities, SDK and API additions, AI integration options, performance and diagnostics improvements, design guidance updates, and productivity tooling enhancements. Bookmark it and check back regularly: we refresh the highlights so you can focus on what moves your app forward.

Latest releases

Find the latest downloads, release notes, and updates for the Windows SDK, Windows App SDK, and WinUI.

Highlights – January 2026

• WinAppCLI public preview: The Windows App Development CLI is command-line interface for managing Windows SDKs, packaging, generating app identity, manifests, certificates, and using build tools with any app framework. This tool bridges the gap between cross-platform development and Windows-native capabilities. (GitHub repo)
• PowerToys. 0.97 release with new features and improvements to existing tools: (Microsoft PowerToys: Utilities to customize Windows
• Windows App SDK release notes: Refactored and consolidated history from 0.5 through 2.0 — find the latest fixes and APIs in one place (release notes hub).
• Windows SDK updates: New overview and detailed release notes to track SDK changes (overview · release notes).
• Cross Device Resume (XDR) overview: Introduces Windows app continuity across devices and technologies available to enable XDR scenarios (overview).
• Implement XDR using WNS raw notifications: Step-by-step guide to integrate app continuity via WNS, including prerequisites and Python/JavaScript examples (how-to).

Previous highlights:

• AI on Windows: Fresh overview for building AI‑powered experiences on Windows, with entry points to APIs and tooling (Windows AI overview).
• Packaged vs. unpackaged guidance: Updated guidance for choosing and configuring packaged or unpackaged apps, including WinUI 3 scenarios (decision guide).
• UWP capability declarations: Revised topic clarifying capability types, privacy‑sensitive capabilities, and Store submission considerations (declare capabilities).
• MCP on Windows: Model Context Protocol (MCP) on Windows: integrate with local and cloud AI models using a standardized protocol.
• Image generation:Image generation with Microsoft Foundry on Windows: create images from text prompts using the new Image Generation API.
• Microsoft Store: The latest news from the Microsoft Store including waived fees and updated analytics.
• AppWindow.SetIcon API: refined guidance for setting window and taskbar icons (branding improvement) (API ref).
• Win32 app isolation overview: updated security guidance for packaging decisions (overview).

Documentation