To make an app with the same "nativeness" as the "Settings" app, you need to use UWP, or WinUI 2.7+. But not 3.0+.
Why not 3.0+? What’s changed?
Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
41–50 of 107 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#42If you're feeling adventurous, I'd try Pharo [0]. I was at the ESUG conference (the European Smalltalk conference) and it seems that when you combine:
* Bloc (UI framework)
* The stuff in their new presentation (will be online in a few months)
* Pharo
You could get pretty far.
For example, this game [1] has been packaged as a Win/Mac app [2].
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#43Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#44To make an app with the same "nativeness" as the "Settings" app, you need to use UWP, or WinUI 2.7+. But not 3.0+.
Why not 3.0+? What’s changed?
They decoupled the UI framework from the OS in WinUI 3.0. The point of UWP was that it used controls and rendering capabilities built into the OS. This resulted in performance regressions and missing features for several versions compared to the 2.8 branch.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#45Blazor hybrid is very productive if you want to stick at least somewhat to the Microsoft world and retain the power and ecosystem of web-ui.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#46WPF with some external controls.
- Still supported on latest .NET
- Most feature rich and battle tested
- Good documentation
- You will learn XAML which can be later used once when WinUI 3.0 is more mature (at least another 5,6 years will be needed with their current development velocity)
PS.
XAML is a bit different but similiar enoguh between WPF and WinUI.
Of course it depends on what type of application.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#47Without more details, this is the way to get the most native Windows 11 look and feel: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/winui/winui3/ Disclosure: I work at Microsoft on a team that works on visual look and feel for Windows.
No visual designer.
I'm sorry, but this is a massive step back in usability. I'm not moving from a system where I can drag/drop UI elements into place to one where I can't.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#48I will say it without fear: nothing beats electron in beauty and eye candy. You have the entire HTML5/CSS3 at your disposal.
> nothing beats electron in beauty and eye candy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Even Windows 2.0 looks better than Teams.
Both of these comments are strange, so I may be misunderstanding, but with any UI framework, one can make them look however they want through custom styles, design is not dictated through the framework itself but by the styles.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#49Looks like MFC is still a thing.
If MFC are an option, then wxWidgets is also an option.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best way to build a desktop app in Windows in 2023?
#50I'll tell you, PWAs were my "gateway drug". Once I realized that practically every app worth using was installable as PWA, I began to question why I would even need Windows anymore as an OS layer.
Since PWAs run in the browser of choice, they are definitely native, especially if you choose Edge, which is approaching dominance on the platform.
PWAs grant automatic cross-platform ability. I can install and run PWA in Windows, Android, ChromeOS, you name it.
Also it is super minimum hassle. Windows never bothers me about the Store, or signing, or updating any PWA; it's simply transparent.