Update Windows 10 SDK - build 10586

Shen Chauhan and Andy Wigley talk about Windows update and new SDK

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

In this article, we will describe in more detail some of the improvements in the universal Windows platform (UWP) included in the SDK:
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• Visual composition, effects and animation
• Sqlite
• Work with pen and pen
• More efficient and flexible AppX installation
• UI and XAML updates
• Bluetooth and networking
• Work with sensors
• Device storage
• Windows App Certification Kit (Windows ACK)
• Set for design (Photoshop)

Visual composition, effects and animation

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

• Fast rendering of lightweight visual elements in three-dimensional coordinate space
• A new declarative animation engine, scalable and includes a new mechanism for describing animations through expressions and the possibility of frame-by-frame animations operating 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 now comes with UWP for solving local data access problems required across the entire range of devices on Windows 10. SQLite implements a transactional SQL database support engine that does not have additional dependencies and does not require a server or specific settings. Developers can now directly access SQLite included in the SDK instead of independently including the corresponding library in the application. The data manual has been updated to help developers understand how to work with SQLite in UWP applications.

Work with pen and pen

The update includes the following improvements in keyboard and pen:

• Direct Ink for Win32 applications . The Ink Presenter API allows Win32 applications to control typing with a pen, including processing and rendering strokes through an InkPresenter object inserted into the DirectComposition visual tree of the application being developed. In other words, Win32 applications can now use the pen as well as UWP applications.
• Capturing keyboard event delivery . The new KeyboardDeliveryInterceptor class allows applications to override the system process for handling keystrokes, including keyboard shortcuts, shortcut keys (hot keys), accelerating combinations and application keys, but excluding security-related key combinations (for example, Ctrl-Alt-Del and Windows-L ) that the system continues to process.
• Inter-process chain processing pointers . Available through new pointer events - for UWP applications as well as for classic Windows applications .

More efficient and flexible AppX installation

The update makes installation of application packages on devices more flexible:

• Reduced installation space . Previously, we needed double the size of the disk space compared to the volume of the AppX-package itself to install it. So, if the package weighed 1GB, then for installation we needed 2 + GB of free disk space. Now we are requesting noticeably less extra space: the same 1GB package takes up 1.1GB of disk space for installation.
• Extra 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, changing the installation location in the storage settings. In the mobile scenario, similar settings allow you to put applications on the 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 allow applications to programmatically manage the pop-up menu at the tile or icon in the taskbar, including adding new items and groups.
• XAML update . 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, as well as improvements in the default menu size.

Bluetooth and networking

The following enhancements are included in the SDK:

• Bluetooth New methods for linking in the DeviceInformationPairing class allow you to establish or break a connection from inside the application with optional levels of protection.
• Sockets . For developers using WebSockets: the FlushAsync methods in MessageWebSocket.OutputStream and StreamWebSocket.OutputStream have been implemented completely and are now waiting for the previously called WriteAsync method to complete. Note that this may lead to exceptions in existing code if the WebSocket is in an invalid state when calling the FlushAsync method.
• Cookies A new property, CookieUsageBehavior, 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 work with contextual sensors that allow you to determine the type of activity (for example, walking, running, cycling or driving), count steps and recognize altitude and barometric pressure, as well as track the appearance of a user near the device or its distance. More information about working with sensors, we wrote in the article " Context Sensors in Windows 10. " In addition, our second article describes some of the advanced capabilities of working with sensors, including batch processing of accelerometer data, using ReadingTransform to support proper orientation of the application on various devices, and also the ability to add your own sensors. Thus, the complete set of all touch APIs works on the whole range 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 with files more flexibly, saving and associating them with specific users:

• Using the CreateFileForUserAsync and CreateFolderForUserAsync methods, you can respectively create files or folders within the Downloads folder for a 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 enhanced tests. In particular, a test was added to preload the application (Prelaunch) and the tests of resources and APIs used were corrected. A full description of the changes and known problems can be found on the WACK page .

Set for design (Photoshop)

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

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