微软正在调整Windows 11的软件开发策略，希望借助人工智能降低原生Windows应用的开发门槛，让开发者更容易制作性能更好、界面更贴合系统设计的桌面软件。随着越来越多的应用采用Electron、WebView2等技术，将网页内容封装成桌面程序，Windows平台上出现了不少内存占用高、启动缓慢、系统集成能力有限的应用。微软如今希望通过原生开发工具与AI编程助手，扭转这一趋势。
Windows Latest在10月23日的报道中指出，微软正在推广WinUI 3，并提供更加简化的开发流程，让开发者无需依赖庞大的Visual Studio开发环境，也能创建、编译和运行原生Windows应用。微软的目标并不是简单禁止网页技术，而是让开发者在选择原生开发时，不再需要承担过去那样高的学习成本和复杂的构建流程。
WinUI 3是微软面向现代Windows桌面应用推荐的原生用户界面框架，支持C#和C++，能够使用Windows的Fluent Design设计体系，并与系统窗口、控件及其他平台功能更紧密地结合。相比将网页界面嵌入桌面窗口的做法，原生应用有机会在启动速度、资源利用率、交互响应和系统一致性方面取得更好的表现，但实际效果仍取决于具体应用的设计和实现质量。
长期以来，Windows原生应用开发面临的一个问题是工具链复杂。开发者通常需要安装较为庞大的开发环境，掌握XAML界面描述语言，并处理项目配置、应用打包、数字签名和证书等环节。对于希望快速推出产品的小型团队和独立开发者而言，这些额外工作可能使Electron等跨平台方案更具吸引力。
微软现在试图简化这些步骤。开发者可以通过命令行创建WinUI项目，直接构建并运行应用，而不必始终依赖传统图形化集成开发环境。相关工具还能够简化应用打包和注册流程，减少开发者手动处理MSIX软件包及签名配置的工作量。微软希望通过这种方式，让原生应用开发更接近现代网页应用开发的便捷程度。
人工智能是这套策略中的另一项关键组成部分。微软正在为AI编程助手提供专门面向WinUI的开发能力，使其能够协助创建界面、生成代码、处理常见开发任务，并通过代码审查和界面测试发现问题。开发者可以借助GitHub Copilot等工具，以自然语言描述需求，再由AI协助搭建应用框架和实现具体功能。
Windows Latest此前还报道，微软发布了一套面向AI辅助开发的快速入门流程，开发者可以结合VS Code、Windows应用开发命令行工具以及AI编程助手，从空白目录开始创建WinUI 3应用。微软声称，在使用相关工具和模板的情况下，部分基础应用可以在约30分钟内完成初步构建，而且不需要安装Visual Studio。这一时间主要反映快速入门示例的效率，并不意味着复杂应用也能在半小时内完成开发和测试。
微软还在改善WinUI本身的开发体验。过去，部分WinUI应用在调整窗口大小时会出现画面撕裂或黑色边缘等问题，影响用户对原生应用的观感。微软表示，将继续弥补框架中的功能缺口，改善稳定性、性能和窗口交互体验。对开发者而言，如果微软无法提供足够成熟的原生框架，即使AI能够快速生成代码，也很难说服他们放弃已有的开发方案。
与此同时，微软正在将WinUI用于更多Windows 11系统组件的重建工作。部分系统界面和工具正在逐步摆脱旧有实现方式，转向更现代的原生界面框架。Windows搜索界面已经开始测试基于WinUI 3的新版本，部分传统系统对话框和管理工具也在进行现代化改造。微软还计划继续处理遗留界面，使系统不同部分在外观、交互和性能方面更加一致。
微软天气应用则成为网页技术可能带来资源负担的一个例子。Windows Latest此前测试发现，该应用在空闲状态下的内存占用达到约1.2GB，并运行多个Chromium相关子进程。报道认为，这反映出网页封装应用可能出现不必要的资源开销。不过，这只是针对特定应用和测试环境的观察，不能据此认定所有基于WebView2或Electron开发的软件都存在同样的问题。微软自身的开发文档也承认，WebView2可以是合理的混合开发方案，资源消耗很大程度上取决于网页内容和应用实现是否经过优化。
微软推动原生开发的背后，还有维护Windows开发者生态的考虑。过去几年，许多开发者选择跨平台框架，以便用一套代码支持多个操作系统；部分AI应用开发者则更青睐Mac电脑或Linux开发环境。微软希望通过更完善的原生工具、AI辅助编程以及更便捷的打包和测试流程，让Windows重新成为开发现代桌面软件的有吸引力的平台。
不过，AI降低代码生成成本，并不意味着软件质量会自动提高。AI可能快速生成能够运行的应用，却未必能够保证其架构合理、资源占用低、安全性可靠，也不一定能解决复杂场景下的交互问题。如果开发者大量依赖AI生成代码，却忽略性能优化和测试，最终可能只是将网页套壳应用的问题转移到原生应用上。
因此，微软这项计划的关键不仅是让WinUI应用更容易创建，还要让原生框架本身足够稳定、工具足够完善，并确保AI生成的软件经过必要的测试和优化。只有当开发者能够以较低成本制作出可靠、轻量且易于维护的原生应用，Windows 11才有机会逐步摆脱部分用户所批评的“网页套壳应用泛滥”问题。
从目前的方向来看，微软并没有全面否定网页技术，而是希望改变原生应用与网页封装应用之间的开发成本差距。随着AI编程工具、命令行开发流程和WinUI框架持续完善，Windows原生应用的开发门槛有望进一步降低。但这项策略最终能否改善普通用户的使用体验，仍取决于微软自身系统组件的优化进度，以及第三方开发者是否愿意真正投入原生Windows应用的开发。
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Microsoft is adjusting its Windows 11 software development strategy to lower the development threshold for primary Windows applications with artificial intelligence, making it easier for developers to produce desktop software with better performance and interfaces to fit system design. With the increasing number of applications using electron, WebView2 and other technologies, web content has been encapsulated into desktops, with a number of high memory occupancy, slow start-up and limited system integration applications on the Windows platform. Microsoft now wants to reverse this trend through primary development tools and AI programming assistants.
In a report dated 23 October, Windows Latest noted that Microsoft was promoting WinUI 3 and providing a simpler development process that would enable developers to create, compile and operate their original Windows applications without relying on the vast Visual Studio development environment. The goal of Microsoft is not simply to ban web-based technology, but to make it no longer necessary for developers to bear the high learning costs and complex construction processes of the past when choosing primary development.
WinUI 3 is the Microsoft-recommended original user interface framework for modern Windows desktop applications that supports C# and C++ and allows the use of Windows ' Fluent Design design systems and is more closely integrated with system windows, controls and other platform functions. Compared to embedding web interfaces into desktop windows, primary applications have the opportunity to achieve better performance in terms of start-up speed, resource utilization, interactive response and system coherence, but the actual results still depend on the design and quality of the application.
A long-standing problem with the development of the Windows primary applications is the complexity of the tool chain. Developers usually need to install larger development environments, master the XAML interface description language, and deal with project configurations, applications for packing, digital signatures and certificates. These additional efforts may make cross-platform programmes, such as Electron, more attractive to small teams and independent developers who wish to launch products quickly.
Microsoft is now trying to simplify these steps. The developers can create WinUI projects through command line to build and run applications directly without always relying on the traditional graphical integrated development environment. The tools will also simplify the application packing and registration process and reduce the workload of developers in manual processing of MSIX packages and signature configurations. In this way, Microsoft hopes to bring the development of primary applications closer to the ease of modern web application development.
Artificial intelligence is another key component of the strategy. Microsoft is providing the AI programming assistant with a dedicated development capability for WinUI to assist in the creation of interfaces, generation of codes, processing of common development tasks and testing of problems through code reviews and interfaces. Developers can use tools such as GitHub Copilot to describe needs in natural languages, with AI assisting in setting up the application framework and achieving specific functions.
Windows Latest also previously reported that Microsoft publish has a fast-track introductory process for AI-aided development that allows developers to develop command line tools in conjunction with VS Code, Windows applications and AI programming assistants to create WinUI 3 applications from a blank directory. Microsoft claims that, with the use of relevant tools and templates, part of the base application could be completed in approximately 30 minutes, and that the installation of Visual Studio was not required. This time mainly reflects the efficiency of the fast-track entry example and does not mean that complex applications can also be developed and tested within half an hour.
Microsoft is also improving WinUI's own development experience. In the past, some of the WinUI applications, such as tearing images or black edges in large hours of the adjustment window, had affected users ' perception of primary applications. Microsoft indicated that functional gaps in the framework would continue to be filled to improve stability, performance and window interaction. For developers, it is difficult to convince Microsoft to abandon existing development options even if it can quickly generate codes if it does not provide a sufficiently mature primary framework.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is using WinUI for the reconstruction of additional Windows 11 components. Some of the systems interfaces and tools are moving away from old ones to more modern original interface frameworks. The Windows search interface has begun testing a new version based on WinUI 3, and some traditional systems dialogue boxes and management tools are being modernized. Microsoft also plans to continue to process legacy interfaces to make the different parts of the system more coherent in terms of appearance, interaction and performance.
Microsoft weather applications are an example of the resource burden that web-based technologies can impose. Windows Latest had previously tested that the application had a memory occupation of approximately 1.2GB in an idle state and that it was running several Chromium-related subprocesses. This, according to the report, reflects the potential for unnecessary resource costs for web-cover applications. However, this is only an observation of a specific application and test environment, on which it cannot be concluded that all software based on WebView2 or Electron has the same problem. Microsoft's own development documents also recognize that WebView2 can be a reasonable mix of development options and that resource consumption depends heavily on the optimization of web content and applications.
Behind Microsoft's drive for primary development is the concern to preserve the ecology of Windows developers. Over the past few years, many developers have opted for a cross-platform framework to support multiple operating systems with a set of codes; some AI application developers prefer Mac or Linux to develop the environment. Microsoft hopes to re-establish Windows as an attractive platform for the development of modern desktop software through better primary tools, AI-aided programming and easier packing and testing processes.
However, AI reduces the cost of code generation, which does not mean that software quality will automatically improve. AI may quickly generate operational applications without necessarily ensuring that its structure is sound, its resources are low, it is secure, and it does not necessarily address cross-cutting issues in complex settings. If developers rely heavily on AI-generated codes, while neglecting performance optimization and testing, it may end up simply shifting the issue of web-based shell applications to primary applications.
Therefore, the key to the Microsoft initiative is not only to make WinUI applications easier to create, but also to make the original framework itself sufficiently stable, well-developed tools and to ensure that the software generated by AI is tested and optimized as necessary. Windows 11 has an opportunity to move away from the “supplexing of web shell applications” that some users have criticized only when developers are able to produce reliable, light and easily maintained primary applications on a lower-cost basis.
In the current direction, Microsoft does not completely reject web technology, but rather wants to change the development cost gap between primary and web-cover applications. As the AI programming tool, the command line development process and the WinUI framework continue to improve, it is expected that the development threshold for the Windows primary applications will be further lowered. Ultimately, however, the strategy will improve the user experience of ordinary users, depending on the evolution of Microsoft ' s own system components and the willingness of third-party developers to actually engage in the development of original Windows applications.
Auto-fetched and translated by AI Atlas. All rights belong to the original author.