What is the point of UWP?

[Majstr]

What is the point of UWP if Windows mobile is dead?

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

There's still Xbox (UWP is replacing the older dev kit for games), desktop (where a store is needed anyways, basically every other OS has a store, and it makes things so much easier for devs and users), mixed reality, and if MS decides to make a mobile device later on, they already have apps for it.

And what else are they gonna do, keep improving an app platform that has been around for two decades? At some point you have to draw the line; building new code on top of old code isn't efficient in any way.

 

[rollindice]

same question i ask myself with Nadella steering ship you gotta ask that question again many times

 

[sd4f]

UWP was attempted, but basically died with mobile. To answer the question, there is no point.

It sounded promising at the time and some of the desktop apps are quite good, however, the big problem now is, again, without mobile, it's all becoming abandonware.

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

If you think UWP has anything to do with mobile, then you don't understand it.

It has absolutely nothing to do with end users.

It's only for MS to have a standardized platform, instead of maintaining separate APIs for Xbox, Mixed Reality, desktop, and mobile. That's it.

It's an API. if you don't know what an API is, and how to use one, UWP does not concern you whatsoever.

It's the successor to XDK, the variety of older Windows desktop platforms (including Win32 which originally dates back to over 20 years), Silverlight (and associated WP7/8 apps), and various other platforms that MS has made over the years. Instead of wasting development resources on a dozen different platforms, they have consolidated it all into one, and called it UWP.

It also has the benefit of working with the AppX package, which allows for multiple architectures and editions to be contained in a single, multi-purpose file. This provides easy installation and removal, and the Store distribution.

 

[Majstr]

I know what is API. I am computer programmer myself.
I understand MS point.

But I don't think that some developer would make an app, just because it can be used on Xbox. They are too diferent
platforms.

What I don't understand, why kill mobile platform right after you created UWP.

 

[DOGC_Kyle]

I know what is API. I am computer programmer myself.
I understand MS point.

But I don't think that some developer would make an app, just because it can be used on Xbox. They are too diferent
platforms.

What I don't understand, why kill mobile platform right after you created UWP.

Just because the API is available on multiple platforms, doesn't mean devs have to take advantage. Of course, they could do this easily, but they don't have to. But for the sake of this discussion, it's irrelevant.

It's easier for MS to maintain a single API than a dozen different ones.

If given the choice of writing an app against Win32 vs. UWP, and UWP can do everything that Win32 can do, is there any reason to specifically use Win32 still? And if thats the case, MS can remove the legacy Win32 code, and that's far less code for them to maintain.

It's a win for MS, and in its current form, nothing is made more difficult for devs (possibly even easier, though I haven't looked at it in a while), so there are no real disadvantages.

My point is, don't think of it as being for universal apps (or more specifically, mobile apps), think of it being the next-generation API, that just so happens to work on multiple platforms.
The main feature of UWP (to developers) is that its an updated, modern API for Windows applications. The universal part is just a bonus.
Right now, yes, that bonus is a bit if a waste without a mobile implementation (and yeah Xbox isn't suited to all desktop apps). But its just a bonus, not the main feature. The API itself is the main feature.