[Info-vax] BridgeWorks

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 8/7/2024 12:37 AM, Gary Sparkes wrote:
> WinRT is very much alive and well, being expanded over time, and destined
> to replace Win32 entirely for any modern usage.

> Almost all my new development makes WinRT calls and consumes a ton of new
> APIs. Yes, it is COM based, but it is *so much nicer* and i'm no longer
> having to drop into COM/DCOM to control a PTZ camera, for example.
> 
> I'd say that usage of WinRT functionality is *far* more widespread than
> you may realize, especially now with Win10 being the baseline minimum of
> currently supported OSes, so you don't have to question if it will be
> present or not. Along with what I stated above, WinRT API calls have
> *greatly* reduced the size of my codebases as well. It's absolutely
> painful sometimes when I have to work "before WinRT" and implement things
> like IPv6 support in XP applications....

I don't see much future for WinRT.

It never took off market wise. And Microsoft is not putting
resources in it any more.

I believe it was a huge step forward for Windows C++
desktop apps - a nice modern consistent somewhat complete
OO API instead of a big mess created piecemeal over decades.

But:
* Windows C++ desktop apps is turning into a niche
   for new apps
* When Windows Phone was killed then .NET (Xamarin/MAUI)
   "replaced" WinRT as solution for that segment
* Windows Store never took off

Arne