The Microsoft Build 2022 annual conference has begun, and although the main focus of the event this year is on creating the ideal tools for flexible working, there are some new Windows 11 innovations worth noting even for us ordinary consumers. Let’s summarize briefly by points:
- Android app in Italy by the end of the year. The Android subsystem is currently being tested only in the United States, but by next December it will also arrive in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy. We remind you that the initiative is being developed in partnership with Amazon and its Appstore.
- More integration of PWAs. Thanks to updates of Edge and the operating system itself, Progressive Web Apps will be able to open certain file extensions by default, and will support the Windows 11 sharing UI. Furthermore, the notifications generated by them will not appear in the dropdown as if they came from Edge, they will only show app name and icon.
- The Android subsystem updates. It is now based on Android 12L, or more accurately version 12.1 of the Android Open-Source Project (AOSP). At least, for Insiders: the update was released last week. Several aspects of the Windows integration have also been improved, including handling notifications and more sophisticated networking technologies.
- Support for third-party widgets. With Windows 11, Microsoft has focused heavily on the ability to customize the experience of using the operating system with widgets, however so far it has been the only one to produce them. The plan has always been to extend this possibility to third-party developers, and evidently the time is finally ripe. According to the announcement, developers will be able to develop both Win32 and PWA widgets. It is interesting to observe that, at least according to the official statements of Microsoft, the operating paradigm remains unchanged: that is, the widgets remain relegated to the dedicated panel that can be opened by clicking in the left corner of the taskbar. This is despite the fact that just a few days ago Microsoft introduced a web search widget (via Bing, of course) that can be placed on the desktop.
MICROSOFT STORE
- Microsoft Store increasingly universal. Now all developers can publish their traditional Win32 apps, and the previously used waiting list disappears.
- Advertise in the Microsoft Store. Developers will be able to advertise their apps and games through the Microsoft Advertising platform (image 1 above).
- App recovery after clean install / reset. This is a very convenient feature, borrowed from the mobile world, which can be a great incentive for users to use the Microsoft Store. It will work exactly as expected: just log in to the new device, open the Store and head to the Library. A prompt will launch the reinstallation of the apps complete with user data (image 2 above).
NEW LIFE SAPS AT WINDOWS ON ARM
This is news for developers, but it has potentially huge repercussions on an entire category of consumer products – i Windows computer with Qualcomm processors, like the Surface Pro X. A full native ARM64 development toolchain is finally available. The hope is that this will entice developers to step up their efforts in creating optimized software. The first Preview of the toolchain will arrive, together with Visual Studio 2022, in the coming weeks; the company also said it is working to include other tools such as Open JDK, Python, LL VM, Node and Git.
Microsoft also announced Project Volterra, a dev box with Snapdragon chip, primarily designed to allow developers to explore different AI scenarios thanks to Qualcomm’s Neural Processing SDK. Unfortunately, the concrete information stops there: we do not know the data sheet, we do not have an image, and it is not clear when it will arrive or how much it will cost.
