Desktop App Converter Available for Download

Earlier this week we shared some information about Project Centennial, a tool from Microsoft that enables developers of Win32 and .Net apps to easily convert their existing Windows software programs into Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps for the Windows Store.

You can learn more about Project Centennial and the process of using it by checking out this session from Build 2016 on Channel 9 that is available for on-demand viewing.

If you are ready to dive in and start using this process then you can now head over to the Microsoft Download Center and directly grab the Desktop App Converter that is used to perform the conversion of your existing Win32 and .Net software.

Here is a brief description of the tool:

Desktop App Converter is a pre-release tool that enables developers to bring their existing desktop apps written for .NET 4.6.1 or Win32 to the Universal Windows Platform. The developers can run their desktop installers through the converter in an unattended (silent) mode and obtain an AppX package that can be installed via the Add-AppXPackage PowerShell cmdlet on their development machine. The converter runs the desktop installer in an isolated Windows environment using a clean base image provided in this download. It captures any registry and file system I/O made by the desktop installer and packages as part of the output. An AppX with package identity and an ability to call a vast range of WinRT APIs is outputted by the converter.

Just for clarity - this converter does not allow an end user to convert any software for Windows to a UWP app - the work must be done by the developer of the software.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

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