Build intelligent apps with WinUI, Phi Silica and the Windows Copilot Runtime

The Windows Copilot Runtime (WCR) is a set of AI APIs in the Windows App SDK that enable powerful, local AI capabilities in your Windows apps. In this session, we'll explore the features of the WCR and how to integrate them into a WinUI application using C#.

We'll explore:

• Phi Silica APIs: The Phi models are small language models (SLMs) from Microsoft Research designed to run locally on Windows devices with a neural processing unit (NPU). With the Phi Silica APIs, your app can execute local text generation and conversion like ChatGPT performs in the cloud.
• Text Recognition APIs: Windows App SDK includes optical character recognition (OCR) APIs for converting documents and images into text.
• Imaging APIs: See how to scale images and detect objects with these APIs.
• Recall: Use the User Activity API to help users resume activity in your app by leveraging Recall on Copilot+ PCs with an NPU.

We'll also take a tour of the AI Dev Gallery app, which includes sample apps and code for using AI with language, images, speech, and more.

Create multi-platform apps with .NET MAUI and the MAUI Community Toolkit

Start your cross-platform app development journey with C# and .NET MAUI. .NET developers can build apps for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows with a single codebase. In this session, we'll explore multiple techniques to create apps quickly with .NET MAUI:

- Build an app quickly with XAML, C#, and VS Code
- Use the controls, extensions, behaviors, and more from the .NET MAUI Community Toolkit
- Follow the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern and reduce boilerplate code with the MVVM Toolkit
- Create MAUI apps without any XAML by leveraging C# Markup
- Reuse your web styles and bring your CSS into .NET MAUI projects
- Access device-specific platform features without writing platform-specific code
- Learn which tools are available to write, build and debug your apps on Windows and macOS

By the end of this session, you'll have some new tools in your cross-platform toolbelt to get your apps into users' hands faster on every platform.

Build beautiful multi-platform apps with Uno Platform

Learn how to leverage .NET and Uno Platform to build multi-platform apps from your Mac, Windows, or Linux desktop. Use your favorite IDE to build apps with C# for iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, Windows, and the web! In this session, we'll explore the flexibility and power of Uno Platforms rich feature set:

- Create apps with Visual Studio, VS Code, or JetBrains Rider
- Use the Uno Platform Live Wizard to start your next project in any editor
- Create an app for literally any platform with a single codebase
- Use the new Hot Design in the new Uno Platform Studio to build user interfaces in a visual designer
- Export Figma designs to XAML or C# Markup to facilitate the design to developer handoff
- Developer with C# Markup to build Uno Platform apps with no XAML
- Leverage the MVVM Toolkit in the .NET Community Toolkit
- Convert a WinUI app to a cross-platform app with zero code changes

Following this whirlwind tour of Uno's powerful features, you'll be ready to dive into their extensive documentation to get started on your next cross-platform app project.

The Life of a Content Developer Working on Microsoft Learn

What’s it like working on one of the largest open-source projects in the world used by millions of developers to achieve their goals? Do you want to learn how the content development teams at Microsoft create relevant and up-to-date content on Microsoft Learn? If so, then this session is for you!

In this session, you will see how we use GitHub and Visual Studio Code to create the Microsoft Learn documentation. We will explore:

- Use the Documentation as Code approach to write, edit, and publish content in GitHub
- Explore the open-source repositories of Microsoft Learn and see how we contribute to them
- Follow the git typical workflow to create, review, and merge changes
- Use VS Code and the Learn Authoring Pack to work with markdown and YAML files that make up the documentation and training modules

By the end of this session, you will understand how the documentation on Microsoft Learn is created and maintained by the writers at Microsoft and the open-source community.

Create a WinUI app with Microsoft's Community Toolkits

In this full-day workshop, you'll build your first WinUI 3 app with C#, the Windows App SDK, and some help from the open-source Windows Community Toolkit and .NET Community Toolkit.

We'll build a fully functional app that catalogs your media collection: books, CDs, records, Blu-ray discs, and more. We'll start from File | New Project in Visual Studio and cover the following features:

- Learn the basics of WinUI development with C# and XAML
- Use .NET's built-in dependency-injection
- Understand the Model-View-ViewModel pattern with the MVVM Toolkit, part of the .NET Community Toolkit
- Use local SQLite database to persist our media collection data
- Discover how Windows Mica material can incorporate some Windows 11 style
- Implement page navigation with a custom navigation service
- Customize your app's TitleBar
- Leverage WinUI controls like the TeachingTip and DropdownButton, and learn to template a ListView control
- Incorporate controls and helpers from the Windows Community Toolkit

By the end of the day, you'll have the skills you need to start building your own Windows apps with WinUI and the Windows App SDK.

Note: Workshop attendees will need Visual Studio 2022 with the .NET Desktop Development workload, and the Windows App SDK C# Templates installed on a Windows PC. Windows 11 is best to get the most out of the Mica styling feature, but the app will be fully functional on Windows 10.

Learn, Share, and Grow: How to Become a Microsoft Learn Contributor

Do you want to be part of one of the largest open-source projects in the world and help millions of learners achieve their goals? Do you want to learn how the Skilling teams at Microsoft are creating relevant and up-to-date content on Microsoft Learn? If so, then this session is for you!

In this session, you will learn how to use GitHub to contribute to the Microsoft Learn documentation. GitHub is a platform that allows you to collaborate with other developers and share your code and content with the world. You will learn how to:

- Use the Documentation as Code approach to write, edit, and publish your content in GitHub
- Explore the open-source repositories of Microsoft Learn and see how you can contribute to them
- Follow the GitHub workflow to create, review, and merge your changes
- Use GitHub issues and PRs to communicate with the Microsoft Learn team and get feedback on your contributions
- Apply the Microsoft Learn tips and tricks to create engaging and effective content for your audience
- Use the Markdown tooling for Learn to format your content and add interactive features

By the end of this session, you will have the skills and confidence to become a Microsoft Learn contributor and make a difference in the learning community. Whether you are new to GitHub or an experienced user, whether you want to contribute to existing content or add new content, there is an opportunity for you in Microsoft Learn. Join us and discover how you can learn, share, and grow with Microsoft Learn!

I have presented this session at VSLive in Chicago and Redmond, TechBash, the CSharp.TV Software Architecture Conference, and at two local .NET user groups.

Get Started Building Windows Apps with WinUI and the Windows App SDK

WinUI is the latest native UI framework for Windows, offering a modern and flexible way to create beautiful, responsive apps that take advantage of today's hardware. The Windows App SDK is a set of libraries and tools that enable developers to access the latest Windows features and APIs from today's native Windows UI frameworks.

In this session, you will learn how to use WinUI and the Windows App SDK to build rich, powerful native Windows apps. You will learn how to:

- Get started with WinUI and the Windows App SDK
- Use the included controls and styles to design your UI
- Apply the MVVM pattern to structure your app logic and data, leveraging Microsoft's MVVM Toolkit
- Integrate Windows App SDK features such as notifications, app resources, and power management
- Briefly compare WinUI with other native Windows UI frameworks
- Discuss deployment options for your WinUI app (including the Microsoft Store and WinGet)
- Extend your app to other platforms using the Uno Platform

By the end of this session, you will have a solid understanding of how to use WinUI and the Windows App SDK to create modern Windows apps that delight your users.

I presented this session at the Boston .NET Architects user group in 2024.

Building a modern, native application for Windows: Which UI framework should you choose?

If you want to build a Windows desktop application, you might be overwhelmed by the number of UI frameworks available. How do you choose the best one for your project and your skills? How do you compare the features, benefits, and drawbacks of each framework? How do you ensure your app is modern, native, and scalable?

In this session, you will learn how to make an informed decision for your Windows desktop application by comparing different UI frameworks for .NET developers:

- WinUI: The latest UI framework that lets you create beautiful, fast, and fluid Windows apps.
- WPF: The UI framework that lets you create rich, powerful Windows desktop apps using .NET and XAML.
- Windows Forms: The UI framework that lets you create traditional Windows desktop apps quickly using .NET.
- .NET MAUI: The UI framework that lets you create cross-platform desktop and mobile apps using .NET and XAML.
- Blazor Hybrid: Leverage your .NET web skills to create apps on multiple platforms.
- Uno Platform: Take your WinUI apps to iOS, Android, Linux and the web.

We will discuss the pros and cons of each framework:

- The supported platforms and app models
- The available UI features and controls
- The performance and reliability
- The development tools and languages
- The learning curve and documentation

You will also explore the same sample app created with each framework built with each framework and learn some best practices and guidelines. Along the way, you'll get some tips and resources on how to get your team started building apps for Windows.

By the end of this session, you will have a clear understanding of the current native UI frameworks and how to choose the best one for your next Windows application.

I have presented this session at VSLive, CodeMash, TechBash, the CSharp.TV Software Architecture Conference, and NDC London.

Tips and Tricks - My Favorite Windows PowerToys

PowerToys for Windows are back in a big way. It was a set of utilities introduced for Windows 95 in the mid-90s and was re-born as a community-driven project now available for Windows 10 and 11.

In this session, I'll demo some of the PowerToys tools that I find most valuable as a developer on Windows. The utilities that we'll explore include:

Advanced Paste
Awake
Color Picker
Crop and Lock
FancyZones
Mouse utilities
PowerToys Run
Workspaces
ZoomIt (also part of Sysinternals)

By the end of this session, I hope you'll be inspired to find your own favorite PowerToys or even become a contributor to the project!

This session works best as a lightning talk, but it can be expanded to a 30- or 40-minute talk by covering the tools in more details.

Crazy XAML Tricks - Don't try this at home!

I've been working with XAML-based UI frameworks since 2006, and I've had to do some crazy things over the years. In this session, I'll explain re-create some examples of the things I've had to implement in my development career.

Did you ever create an in-memory copy of a WPF view and bind it to the same ViewModel being used in your user interface, just to grab a screenshot without scrolling the actual control into the viewable part of the screen?

This is just one example of the techniques I'll demo but not actually endorse. Most of the examples will use WPF, but I'll explain what's supported in other frameworks as we go. Join me for an hour of XAML adventures into the unexpected!