What’s cool for developers in Windows 11

Windows 11 brings new SDKs and a beautiful UI for new and existing apps.

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  • What’s new in Windows 11

    Discover the latest Windows 11 features for developers.

    What’s new >

  • Get the right tools

    Configure your development computer with these tools and get started today.

    Start here >

  • Code samples

    Check out the latest Line of Business and consumer app samples using Windows 11 features.

    Get code >

Latest Windows features for developers

  • Title bar customization

    Windows provides a default title bar for every window and lets you to customize it to match the personality of your app.

  • Dark themes

    Support dark and light themes in Win32 apps.

  • Migrating apps

    .NET Upgrade Assistant now supports migrating C# UWP apps to the Windows App SDK.

  • Human presence

    Your app can react depending on whether someone is physically by their computer.

  • .NET MAUI

    Build your first app with .NET MAUI.

  • Font Selection

    The IDWriteFontSet4 interface exposes methods for selecting fonts from a font set.

  • WSL Updates

    Windows 11 now supports running Linux GUI apps with WSL, such as Gedit, Gimp, Nautilus, X11 apps and more.

  • Icon Design

    Latest guidance on designing icons for use with your apps.

Design

Windows Design

Windows 11 has a focus on geometry, color, layering, typography, and materials that brings a fresh new look for you to leverage micro-interactions and window snapping experiences, whether creating new apps or revitalizing your existing apps.

Windows 11 design principles >

  • Rounded Corners

    Learn how to round your Win32 app's main window corners if the system doesn’t round them automatically.

    Round up >

  • Snap Layout Menu

    Here’s how to allow the snap layout menu to appear if the system does not provide it automatically.

    Snap to it >

  • InfoBadge

    An InfoBadge can be used when you want to bring the user's focus to a certain area of your app in an unintrusive way.

    Get informed >

Windows App SDK

The Windows App SDK — the new name for Project Reunion and WinUI 3 — brings a unified set of APIs and tools for developing desktop apps to Windows 11 and Windows 10.Choose your UI, language, and technology then share your apps with millions.

Learn more >
Design

  • Windows App SDK Samples

    This repository contains a growing number of samples for features shipping in the Windows App SDK.

    Learn more >

  • Windows App SDK API reference

    Check out the new APIs in the Windows App SDK covering automation, app resource management, inking, composition, text rendering, camera support, and more.

    WinRT APIs > Win32 APIs >

  • WinUI Controls Gallery

    The interactive sample highlighting WinUI user interface controls.

    Learn more >

  • Pen haptics

    Discover how you can create Windows apps that provide natural, intuitive, and tactile user experiences with new haptic APIs for digital pens.

    Learn more >

  • Windows 11 on Arm

    ARM64EC is a new application binary interface (ABI) for building apps for Windows 11 on Arm. Discover how you can build new native apps or incrementally transition existing apps to native performance on Arm.

    Learn more >

Become an Insider!

Get early access to Windows 11 and the development tools you need to update your existing app, or create brand new ones.

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