Windows 10 SDK Update - Build 10586 / Microsoft Blog

Shen Chauhan and Andy Wigley talk about updating Windows and the new SDK

A couple of weeks ago we released a new version of the Windows 10 SDK (can be installed in parallel with the previous version). The SDK includes over 200 new types and additional methods and properties for existing types.

In this article, we will talk more about some of the improvements in the universal Windows platform (UWP) included in the SDK:

• Visual composition, effects and animation
• Sqlite
• Work with input and pen
• More efficient and flexible installation of AppX
• UI and XAML Updates
• Bluetooth and networking
• Work with sensors
• Device storage
• Windows App Certification Kit (Windows ACK)
• Design Kit (Photoshop)

Visual composition, effects and animation

We added a new API family to the SDK - Windows.UI.Composition , which allows you to directly work with the base UI layer. The base UI layer is between the framework (for example, XAML) and the DirectX graphics layer. We have prepared a set of relevant examples on GitHub . The new API suite includes:

• Fast rendering of lightweight visual elements in three-dimensional coordinate space
• A new declarative animation engine that is scalable and includes a new mechanism for describing animations through expressions and the possibility of frame-by-frame animations that work independently of the UI stream.
• High performance real-time UI effects system. Effects applied to visual elements can be customized, chained, and their properties can also be animated.

Sqlite

The SQLite library is now supplied with UWP to solve the problems of local access to data required in the entire range of devices on Windows 10. SQLite implements a transactional engine supporting SQL databases, which does not have additional dependencies and does not require a server or specific settings. Developers can now directly access the SQLite included in the SDK instead of independently including the appropriate library in the application. The data guide has been updated to help developers understand how to work with SQLite in UWP applications.

Work with input and pen

The update includes the following keyboard and stylus enhancements:

• Direct Ink for Win32 applications . The Ink Presenter API allows Win32 applications to control input with a pen, including processing and rendering strokes through the InkPresenter object, which is inserted into the DirectComposition visual tree of the application being developed. In other words, now Win32 applications can work with the pen just like UWP applications.
• Keyboard event delivery interception . The new KeyboardDeliveryInterceptor class allows applications to override the system process for handling keyboard keystrokes, including keyboard shortcuts, shortcut keys (hot keys), accelerating keyboard shortcuts and application keys, but excluding security-related keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl-Alt-Del and Windows-L ) that the system continues to process.
• Interprocess pointer processing chains . Available through new pointer events - both for UWP applications and for classic Windows applications .

More efficient and flexible installation of AppX

The update makes installing application packages on devices more flexible:

• Reduced space required for installation . Previously, we needed twice the size of disk space compared to the volume of the AppX package itself to install it. So, if the package weighed 1GB, then for the installation we needed 2 + GB of free disk space. Now we are requesting noticeably less additional space: the same 1GB package will require 1.1GB of disk space for installation.
• Additional drives on the desktop . Additional disks on the desktop are now supported for installing applications, for example, you can decide to install applications on the D: drive by changing the installation location in the storage settings. In a mobile scenario, similar settings allow you to install applications on an SD card, if available.

UI and XAML Updates

The SDK includes several API updates so you can improve the user experience:

• Popup Lists . The new JumpList and JumpListItem classes for working with the start screen enable applications to programmatically control a pop-up menu near a tile or icon in the taskbar, including adding new elements and groups.
• XAML update . It includes the ability to specify the format for the clipboard through the updated API for RichText, improvements in navigation in the updated API for working with maps, and also improvements in the size of the default menu.

Bluetooth and networking

The following improvements are included in the SDK:

• Bluetooth . New methods for binding in the DeviceInformationPairing class allow you to establish or break a connection from within the application with optional security levels.
• Sockets . For developers using WebSockets: the FlushAsync methods in MessageWebSocket.OutputStream and StreamWebSocket.OutputStream have been fully implemented and now await the completion of the previously called WriteAsync method. Note that this can lead to exceptions in existing code if the WebSocket is in an incorrect state when calling the FlushAsync method .
• , The cookies have . A new CookieUsageBehavior property has been added to the existing HttpBaseProtocolFilter class . This will allow developers to control how cookies are processed in the system.

Work with sensors

Windows 10 includes a number of improvements in working with context sensors that allow you to determine the type of activity (for example, walking, running, riding a bicycle or a car), count steps and find out altitude and barometric pressure, and also track the appearance of a user next to the device or its distance. We wrote more about working with sensors in the article “ Context Sensors in Windows 10 ”. In addition, our second article describes some advanced sensor capabilities, including batch processing of accelerometer data, using ReadingTransform to support the correct orientation of the application on various devices, and also the ability to add your own sensors. Thus, the full set of all touch APIs works on the entire spectrum of devices on Windows 10.

The November update develops capabilities by allowing sensors to be used as background triggers. Details can be found in our growing set of examples of working with devices and sensors on GitHub .

Device storage

Developers can now work more flexibly with files, saving and associating them with specific users:

• Using the CreateFileForUserAsync and CreateFolderForUserAsync methods , you can respectively create files or folders inside the Downloads folder for the specified user .
• Using the GetLibraryForUserAsync method, you can access a known repository for a specified user .

Windows App Certification Kit (Windows ACK)

The Windows App Certification Kit has been updated to include improved tests. In particular, a test for preloading the application (Prelaunch) was added and tests of resources and used APIs were fixed. A full description of the changes and known issues can be found on the WACK page .

Design Kit (Photoshop)

To facilitate application design, we have added new UWP application design templates for Adobe Photoshop. We also updated Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Illustrator templates and made a PDF version of the manuals.

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We will be glad to hear questions and feedback on Twitter @WindowsDev . If you encounter bugs or problems, use the Windows Feedback tool and the MSDN forums .