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Windows Presentation Foundation

WPF, .NET platform and Visual Studio enable you to develop data-centric, modern line of business applications

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.NET Framework for desktop provides a comprehensive and consistent programming model for building data-centric applications that enable seamless and secure communication.

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Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and XAML combine into a rich presentation system for building Windows desktop applications with visually stunning user experiences that incorporate UI, media, and complex business models. Rapidly develop enterprise-class line of business applications with a comprehensive set of features like controls, data binding, animation, styles, templates and more.

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Create engaging user interfaces for Windows Desktop Applications with Blend for Visual Studio, the premier professional design tool for XAML applications. Build beautiful transitions and visualizations using Blend’s full suite of vector drawing tools, powerful template editing features, real-time animation, visual state management and more.

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Streamline your development experience with first class debugging features like IntelliTrace, Code execution control and inspection, UI debugging tools for XAML, and a great experience for understanding and resolving Exceptions.

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Optimize your WPF applications by using tools like CPU Usage, Memory Usage, GPU Usage and App Timeline in the Performance and Diagnostics hub. Identify bottlenecks and improve your performance with a scenario-centric view of resource usage in your application.

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.NET 6 Desktop Dev Options: WPF, WinForms, UWP, .NET MAUI, Blazor ...

• By David Ramel

Welcome to the emerging new world of Microsoft-centric software development. Want to code a desktop app? Take your tooling pick from WPF, WinForms, UWP, .NET MAUI, Win UI, Blazor, Project Reunion ... and who knows what's next.

While the choices are many, they're all coming together in the November debut of .NET 6, a major long-term support (LTS) milestone release that's expected to complete the all-things-.NET unification effort that was planned for .NET 5 but was delayed by the pandemic and other issues.

While the old Windows-only .NET Framework offered Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows Forms (WinForms) as the main UI options, the cross-platform .NET Core/.NET 5-6 initiative is much trickier.

WPF and WinForms options still exist, though not quite the same because of various issues , but they are joined by all those other alternatives.

One of the latest desktop options is .NET MAUI , (standing for .NET Multi-platform App UI). It's an evolution of the Xamarin.Forms mobile dev component, now being elevated to first-class citizenship status with an SDK unification effort.

"Xamarin has always been a part of .NET, but now it ships as a core workload, shares the same base class library as other workloads like Blazor, and adopts the modern SDK Style project system for consistent tooling experiences," said David Ortinau, principal program manager, mobile dev tools. "No longer is Xamarin some other thing that is like .NET or has some dependency on .NET, but it IS .NET. This will be made clear as you see the naming aligned in our documentation and product pages as we approach release."

.NET MAUI, while keeping its iOS and Android mobile support, also can be used for desktop development for the macOS and Windows platforms ( but not Linux ).

That desktop support was a focus point of a recent blog post by Ortinau that outlined the current state of and future plans for .NET MAUI.

"In .NET MAUI we are bringing stronger desktop-focused support with WinUI 3 Desktop, the very latest way to build great apps from our Windows team partners," Ortinau said. "When it comes to UWP and WinUI as it relates to .NET MAUI, the main question we are asked is what 'flavor' of XAML will be used in .NET MAUI. Because .NET MAUI controls are multi-platform abstractions rather than Windows-only controls, and because we have a massive catalog of Xamarin.Forms customers with knowledge and projects to bring forward, we are continuing forward with the same 'flavor' you have in .NET MAUI."

On the Mac side of things, developers can now use ".NET for macOS," functionality, extended from the current "Xamarin.Mac" tooling in Xamarin.Forms. That is a .NET binding to Apple's desktop platform, AppKit.

For Apple's future desktop direction, however. .NET will support Mac Catalyst .

Ortinau described that new offering "a solution from Apple that brings your iOS app built with UIKit to desktop, and augments it with additional AppKit and platform APIs as needed. You can explore several of Apple's first-party apps to experience this yourself. .NET MAUI will use this approach in .NET 6."

And beyond that, Ortinau teased Blazor desktop development, something that developers have been playing around with mostly in experiments and proofs of concept.

"We are also working hand-in-hand with the Blazor team to enable Blazor Desktop in .NET 6," Ortinau said. Blazor, of course, is Microsoft's red-hot project to enable web development with C# as the primary programming language, instead of traditional mainstay JavaScript.

There isn't much official documentation for "Blazor Desktop" right now, but Blazor gurus like the main man himself, Steve Sanderson, have been toying with the idea almost since Blazor was envisioned.

This is possible because the default renderer for Blazor -- the client-side component of which is based on WebAssembly -- can be swapped out to target other projects besides web. That resulted in the experimental Blazor Mobile Bindings project for mobile development, recently updated with more UI sharing.

Sanderson even put Blazor to use for for Flutter development .

But Sanderson's desktop endeavors that have also sparked interest among many developers, such as his WebWindow project, which was introduced in 2019 but hasn't been updated much recently.

What are in active development, however, are several .NET 6 initiatives as outlined in the the " Themes of .NET " site where Microsoft tracks .NET development progress using GitHub issues, project boards and milestones.

Some of those themes proposed or committed for .NET 6 relating to desktop include:

• Epic: Blazor developers can target and deploy their applications to desktop platforms, allowing them to run natively #27217
• Epic: Desktop developers can package, distribute, release, and update their applications to multiple desktop platforms and architectures #5462
• Create installable artifacts for Blazor hybrid desktop apps for Windows and macOS #27234
• User Story: .NET 6 desktop application developers need to manage their build pipelines, versions, telemetry, and channels for their releases #5461
• Build, run, debug Blazor hybrid desktop apps using the development platform #27233

And, besides all of the above, there are multiple niche offshoots of .NET-based desktop development, including WebView2 , which lets developers host web content in their desktop .NET applications.

Another one is Project Reunion , which Microsoft says "provides a unified set of APIs and tools that can be used in a consistent way by any app on a broad set of target Windows 10 OS versions."

The disparate ecosystem for just one target -- desktop -- speaks to the difficulty Microsoft faces in its effort to unify development.

A Visual Studio Magazine reader complained about that very issue in a comment to an article last year: "We need a cross-platform Desktop UI Lib, without that: it makes no sense to make .NET as cross-platform. I hope Blazor will continue and can solve this problem."

And then there's the bigger, overall picture, wherein Microsoft seeks to unify desktop, web, cloud, mobile, gaming, IoT and AI with one framework. That obviously still has a lot of moving parts that need more coalescing. Or, as Matthew MacDonald put it , "No matter what the shape, the implementation gap between different application types -- mobile, desktop, and web -- remains one of .NET's unconquered challenges."

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer for Converge360.

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This blog post delves into the evolving landscape of cross-platform UI development, specifically focusing on the transition of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications to macOS.

How to run Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Applications on Mac

Developers seeking powerful UI frameworks with cross-platform capabilities often look for WPF-like solutions outside the Windows ecosystem. The goal is not only to replicate the rich user experience and robust functionality that WPF offers but also to ensure that these applications can thrive on platforms like macOS. The challenge here lies in finding a framework that balances the complex features of WPF with the flexibility required for cross-platform development.

In this post, we will explore how developers can leverage existing skills and codebases to run WPF applications on macOS, providing a pathway to broaden the reach of their applications while maintaining the high standards of performance and design that users expect.

Does WPF Have a Future?

WPF remains a strong choice for Windows-only development. However, those seeking a WPF-like development that can run on all popular platforms should be developing with Avalonia. 

WPF's powerful features have made it a favourite among developers who specialise in creating Windows applications. However, in an era where cross-platform development is not just a bonus but a necessity, questions about the future viability of WPF naturally arise. Those seeking a development experience similar to WPF but with the added benefit of running on all major platforms, including macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Browser, should consider adopting Avalonia.

Avalonia is a powerful alternative to WPF, designed from the ground up to be cross-platform while offering a development experience that is very similar to WPF. If you're an expert with XAML and MVVM, you'll feel right at home developing apps using Avalonia. Its growing popularity reflects a shift in developer priorities towards powerful solutions running across operating systems.

For a more detailed analysis of the future of WPF, diving into technical specifics and industry trends, I recommend you read the recent  post from our friends at SciChart . They have shared their expert opinions on the trajectory of WPF, providing an incredibly insightful and nuanced perspective on where it stands in the current tech landscape.

The future of WPF hinges on its capacity for evolution. In a rapidly advancing technological world, developers are keenly aware of the importance of investing in technology that will remain relevant. Unfortunately, Microsoft's apparent disinterest in further developing WPF has significantly impacted its perceived longevity and relevance. This is a crucial reason why Avalonia, our open-source UI toolkit, has grown in popularity. Frameworks like Avalonia are considered the future, offering developers a viable path to transition their WPF applications to newer, more versatile platforms. Avalonia promises to maintain the rich functionality and design flexibility that WPF developers are accustomed to and extends these capabilities across multiple operating systems.

Recognising the challenges associated with rewriting WPF applications for cross-platform compatibility, we developed  Avalonia XPF.  This innovative solution is a binary-compatible, cross-platform fork of WPF designed to minimise the effort required to bring existing Windows applications to new platforms. Avalonia XPF aims to bridge the gap between the reliable, familiar development environment of WPF and the pressing need for cross-platform functionality. It's an acknowledgement that while Avalonia is an excellent option for starting new projects with cross-platform needs in mind, the reality of software development often involves working within the constraints of existing codebases. Avalonia XPF represents a strategic compromise, offering a way forward for teams who find a complete rewrite daunting or impractical. 

How to Run WPF on Mac

It's possible to run WPF applications on Mac with little to no code changes using Avalonia XPF! We typically see trial users of XPF testing their WPF apps on Mac within a few hours! 

This is possible thanks to Microsoft making WPF open-source and using a permissive license. We were able to fork it and replace the low-level Milcore assembly with Avalonia. This means that Presentation Framework and Presentation Core remain largely untouched, enabling binary compatibility. 

Below, I'll walk you through the simple process of running a WPF app on your Mac! We'll use a very simple WPF for this sample, a WPF clone of the classic Minesweeper game. 

To get started, I'll clone the repo. 

git clone https://github.com/MikeCodesDotNET/minesweeper.git

Add a NuGet.config

We ship Avalonia XPF as a NuGet package, which requires adding our private nuget feeds to gain access. We'll do this by creating a NuGet.config file at the root of our solution. It'll include the following: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <configuration>   <packageSources>     <clear />     <add key="api.nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />     <add key="xpf" value="https://xpf-nuget-feed.avaloniaui.net/v3/index.json" />     <add key="avalonia-nightly" value="https://nuget-feed-all.avaloniaui.net/v3/index.json" />   </packageSources>   <packageSourceCredentials>     <xpf>       <add key="Username" value="license" />       <add key="ClearTextPassword" value="<YOUR_LICENSE_KEY>" />     </xpf>   </packageSourceCredentials> </configuration>

Load the solution

We're now ready to open the solution in our favourite IDE. JetBrains Rider has fantastic support for WPF and Avalonia and works incredibly well with Avalonia XPF. For this reason, we recommend developers adopt Rider! 

Immediately, it's clear that the project has errors because it's unable to resolve the 'Microsoft.NET.Sdk.WindowsDesktop' project SDK. To fix this, we'll replace the SDK with Avalonia XPF. To do this, we'll open the .csproj and replace the project SDK with: 

<Project Sdk="Xpf.Sdk/1.0.1-cibuild001124">

Update the TargetFramework

Avalonia XPF requires WPF apps to target NET6 or above. For this reason, we'll update the apps Target Framework to the latest NET8 runtime. 

<TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>

Add the license key

The last change is to add our license key to the csproj for the executable. 

<ItemGroup>   <RuntimeHostConfigurationOption Include="AvaloniaUI.Xpf.LicenseKey" Value="<YOUR_LICENSE_KEY>" /> </ItemGroup>  

Run the app!

We're now ready to run our WPF app on macOS! 

Can I use WPF Controls on Mac?

The binary compatibility of Avalonia XPF enables 3rd party pro controls to work seamlessly on new platforms! We support Actpro, DevExpress, Infragistics, Syncfusion, Telerik and SciChart. We add more support on request from our customers, so the list of supported 3rd party controls grows every week! This means you can confidently support new platforms, knowing your vital third-party controls are compatible and maintaining the functionality and reliability your mission-critical applications demand.

Our commitment to expanding the ecosystem of supported third-party controls is relentless. Driven by feedback and requests from our user customers, we continuously work to ensure all controls work flawlessly with Avalonia XPF. As a result, the list of compatible third-party controls is ever-expanding, reflecting our dedication to providing a comprehensive solution that caters to the diverse requirements of modern software development.

To facilitate a seamless development experience, we maintain an up-to-date  compatibility database  accessible to all users. This database offers a transparent view of which professional controls are currently supported, allowing developers to plan and execute their cross-platform strategies with confidence. Should you find that a specific control your application relies on is not yet supported, we encourage you to get in touch. By simply dropping us a message with your request, you initiate a process of supporting the desired control into Avalonia XPF. This level of responsiveness and adaptability underscores our mission to deliver a robust cross-platform framework that does not compromise functionality, reliability, or the development experience.

WPF Alternative for Mac

If you're looking for an alternative, rather than taking your WPF app to Mac using Avalonia XPF, you should investigate Avalonia. Avalonia is our open-source UI framework, which AMD, JetBrains and Unity have adopted. It provides a WPF-like development experience but isn't a 1:1 clone and thus requires some modifications to your app.

How to modernise a WPF app

We provide two great options for those looking to modernise their existing WPF apps. Adopting Avalonia is entirely free, though it requires work to migrate. Avalonia XPF, on the other hand, is a commercial product which provides a seamless transition! 

If you're interested in taking your existing WPF applications cross-platform, we'll be happy to  organise a call  to discuss your project. With our diverse background in cross-platform development, we can help you decide which technology is right for you. 

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Repository for WPF related samples

microsoft/WPF-Samples

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Wpf-samples.

This repo contains the samples that demonstrate the API usage patterns and popular features for the Windows Presentation Foundation in the .NET for Desktop. These samples were initially hosted on MSDN , and we are gradually moving all the interesting WPF samples over to GitHub. All the samples have been retargeted to .NET 8.0 .

You can also find an archive of samples targeting .NET 4.7.2 in the netframework branch.

The samples in this repo are generally about illustrating specific concepts and may go against accessibility best practices. However, the team has spent some time illustrating accessibility best practices in a subset of these samples.

• ExpenseItIntro
• ExpenseItDemo
• DataBindingDemo
• CustomComboBox
• EditingExaminerDemo

For additional WPF samples, see WPF Samples .

Unless otherwise mentioned, the samples are released under the MIT license

Help us improve our samples

Help us improve out samples by sending us a pull-request or opening a GitHub Issue

Questions: mail [email protected]

WPF development

For .net 8 - main branch.

These samples require Visual Studio 2022(v17.8) to build, test, and deploy, and also require the most recent .NET 8 SDK.

Get a free copy of Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition

These samples require Visual Studio 2022(v17.7), Visual Studio 2022 for Mac (v17.6) to build, test, and deploy, and also require the .NET 7 SDK.

These samples require Visual Studio 2022(v17.2), Visual Studio 2022 for Mac (v17.6) to build, test, and deploy, and also require the .NET 6 SDK.

WPF on .NET has been open-sourced, and is now available on Github

Using the samples

To use the samples with Git, clone the WPF-Samples repository with 'git clone https://github.com/microsoft/WPF-Samples '

After cloning the WPF-Samples respository, there will be two solution files in the root directory: WPF-Samples.sln and WPF-Samples.msbuild.sln

• To build the samples, open one of the solution files in Visual Studio 2022 and build the solution.
• Alternatively, navigate to the directory of a sample and build with 'dotnet build' or 'msbuild' specifying the target project file.
• WPF-Samples.msbuild.sln contains projects that can be built only with msbuild or Visual Studio, and will not compile with dotnet build . These projects contain C++ code, for which there is no support in dotnet build

The easiest way to use these samples without using Git is to download the zip file containing the current version (using the link below or by clicking the "Download ZIP" button on the repo page). You can then unzip the entire archive and use the samples in Visual Studio 2022.

Download the samples ZIP

• Before you unzip the archive, right-click it, select Properties, and then select Unblock.
• Most samples should work independently
• By default, all the samples target .NET 8.0. (Installers for the .NET 8 SDK can be found at https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download )

For more info about the programming models, platforms, languages, and APIs demonstrated in these samples, please refer to the guidance available in MSDN . These samples are provided as-is in order to indicate or demonstrate the functionality of the programming models and feature APIs for WPF.

Code of conduct

Security policy, releases 55, contributors 62.

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The pain of developing WPF on MacOs-Silicon

A solution if you need to develop WPF with Visual Studio but you are working on a Mac-Silicon.

What is WPF?

WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is a graphical subsystem for Windows that provides user interface (UI) elements and allows developers to create visually rich applications. It was first introduced as part of the .NET framework in 2006.

The problem

Developing WPF on Mac Silicon (Apple's M1 chip) can be difficult because it is designed specifically for Windows and runs natively on Windows operating systems. It requires hardware virtualization to run on Mac, which can cause performance issues and limit the functionality of certain features.

In order to use this solution you need to have an Azure-Account or an account of an other hosting provider. If you are attending school you may have 100USD or more per year of free credits, otherwise you have to pay every hour of developing yourself.

Step 1: Azure Visual Studio

Search for "Visual Studio" and click on the Visual Studio version you want to use.

Then select the Community version if you don't have access to a higher tier.

In the following you need to enter settings for your Server. The most important setting is to allow inbound port for RDP so that you can connect.

Finally start the server.

Step 2: Install remote desktop app

In order to connect and view your server you can use a remote desktop application, which can be downloaded from AppStore. My personal preference is the Microsoft Remote Desktop app.

Click on create PC, enter the IP of your server and click on add. Congrats, you connected to your cloud server and you'r ready to work with the preinstalled Visual Studio.

In case you own an old windows machine you can use it as a server by running it in your home network and exposing it to the web. You can access your own windows machine in the same way as the Azure-Server.

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Can WPF applications be run in Linux or Mac with .Net Core 3?

Microsoft announced .NET Core 3 comes with WPF and Windows Forms. So can I create a desktop application for Linux or Mac using .NET Core 3?

• desktop-application
• .net-core-3.0

• According to their changes they claim to have added executeables for the .net core packages, so it looks like you might be able to run Desktop apps on Linux, but just like any new technology I will take it with a grain of salt at this point as it's only in it's beta stages. –  Dark Templar Commented Dec 28, 2018 at 6:42
• No, but something similar is in development tho not MS github.com/AvaloniaUI/Avalonia –  kenny Commented Apr 11, 2019 at 13:56

4 Answers 4

No, they have clearly stated that these are windows only. In one of the .NET Core 3.0 discussions, they have also clarified that they do not intend to make these features cross-platform in the future since the whole concept is derived from windows specific features. They talked about thinking of a whole new idea for cross-platform applications, which is not easy.

Source: https://youtu.be/HNLZQeu05BY

The newly announced .NET 5 now aims in avoiding all this confusion by no longer calling it ".NET Core".

With blazor client-side (releases on may, 2020), there is a new experimental project for cross-platform apps using webview that is in the works.

Source: https://blog.stevensanderson.com/2019/11/01/exploring-lighter-alternatives-to-electron-for-hosting-a-blazor-desktop-app/

• 44 This is highly confusing, as dotnet core meant to be cross platform, isn't it? What is it worth going that route if it becomes platform dependant again? Also in relation to the competition (Java-Land). Any thoughts? :-) –  christianparpart Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 21:03
• 3 @christianparpart at first for the same reason I was thinking WPF is becoming cross-platform. However, while .NET Core started out as primarily a cross-platform concept, right now since it is a reinvention, it is also far cleaner to develop than Framework. This approach doesn't really take .NET Core into that route. Just something that was windows dependent is now "cleaner windows dependent". They are still working towards the cross-platform desktop. will take time but still a cross-platform direction. –  Neville Nazerane Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 21:22
• 9 .NET Core is still cross platform, but Windows Desktop support isn't part of .NET Core, it's considered an add-on SDK that uses .NET Core. I imagine sooner or later someone will fork it and start working on cross-platform, the demand is huge and solo efforts like Avalonia just don't have the manpower (I read somewhere that the original WPF effort involved nearly 1000 full-time devs). –  McGuireV10 Commented Feb 26, 2019 at 18:58
• 2 @McGuireV10 yes. Support for Windows desktop will be added as a set of "Windows Desktop Packs".It contains UWP, WPF and Windows forms. Which will only work on Windows. link –  siyad Commented Mar 2, 2019 at 2:58

No with WPF or Winforms. But you still can develop desktop apps on Linux, with .NET Core, using other libs like GtkSharp or Avalonia

• 1 this actually seems to use standard not core. But they are arguably the same. Some other similar options would be the extensions of blazor –  Neville Nazerane Commented Apr 13, 2019 at 6:16
• Very interesting, I didn't know. But Avalonia is a Visual Studio Extension and Visual Studio can't be installed on Linux, can it? –  user11323942 Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 14:15
• 1 Only the visual designer is in the vs extension. You can write the code in any editor / IDE you like. –  Thiago Jedi Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 14:51
• Cool, yes I've just installed Avalonia on Linux Fedora. I'm running fine the first MVVM app as per the standard template. –  user11323942 Commented Apr 25, 2020 at 15:06

Well, the name itself says Windows Presentation Foundation. So it's primarily windows based.

But it is worth to be noted that the new UI framework, .NET MAUI that will be shipped with .NET 6 is cross-platform, with a single-codebase, single-project structure.

Currently in Preview at the time of writing, to be shipped in November 2021 . Here's the roadmap .

Although it is not native dotnet core on linux, but it may be helpful - using wine.

I find a very useful comment in the discussion here , more details here

In other words, it is possible to use windows version of dotnet core under wine.

I didn't try it yet, but from the article I mentioned I can say it looks nice and might be an option.

• As far as I see, if you use Wine, you are even not limited to .NET Core, you can use .NET Framework applications as well: appdb.winehq.org/… –  pholpar Commented Jan 12, 2021 at 15:39

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• You are here: docs

At this point, no group in the Mono project has plans to implement Windows Presentation Foundation APIs as part of the project.

We do not have any plans because the project is too large and there has not been any serious interest from the community to make this effort move forward.

Some bits were implemented for WindowsBase and they are distributed with Mono (mostly because System.IO.Packaging is part of WindowsBase). Various classes and stubs were developed and live in the Olive module.

At this point, we strongly suggest that users interested in WPF adopt Xamarin.Forms instead as it offers a rich set of cross platform APIs and features (and has a WPF driver too).

Alternatives

Currently AvaloniaUI is an initiative that is focused to mirror the WPF project but is multi-platform and a dialect.

In addition, Uno Platform is an open source initiative focused on bringing UWP / WinUI to run multi-platform on Web, mobile and non-Windows desktops, as well as Windows 7.

Silverlight implemented a subset of the WPF APIs and was available on Windows, macOS; and through our own open source effort Moonlight it was available on Linux and other Unix systems. Silverlight does not have all the capabilities of WPF, but both technologies are converging API-wise. Silverlight could be used outside of the browser, and Moonlight can be configured to be used with the full .NET API outside of the browser. These days, there’s a project that is trying to resurrect Silverlight using WebAssembly: it’s called OpenSilver .

Mastering Windows Presentation Foundation

Publisher description.

Master the art of building modern desktop applications on Windows About This Book • Learn how to use the MVVM software architectural pattern and see the benefits of using it with Windows Presentation Fountain (WPF) • Explore various ways to enhance efficiency through performance tuning and UI automation • Obtain a deep understanding of data validation and understand various methods that suit different situations Who This Book Is For This book is for working developers with a moderate level of knowledge about Windows Presentation Foundation. It will also be of special interest to ambitious individuals who want to know more about application architecture. It is also suitable for those who just want to learn how to build visually stunning user interfaces. What You Will Learn • Use MVVM to improve workflow • Create visually stunning user interfaces • Perform data binds proficiently • Implement advanced data validation • Locate and resolve errors quickly • Master practical animations • Improve your applications' performance In Detail Windows Presentation Foundation is rich in possibilities when it comes to delivering an excellent user experience. This book will show you how to build professional-grade applications that look great and work smoothly. We start by providing you with a foundation of knowledge to improve your workflow – this includes teaching you how to build the base layer of the application, which will support all that comes after it. We'll also cover the useful details of data binding. Next, we cover the user interface and show you how to get the most out of the built-in and custom WPF controls. The final section of the book demonstrates ways to polish your applications, from adding practical animations and data validation to improving application performance. The book ends with a tutorial on how to deploy your applications and outlines potential ways to apply your new-found knowledge so you can put it to use right away. Style and approach Filled with intriguing and practical examples, this book delineates concepts that will help you take your WPF skills to the next level.

More Books by Sheridan Yuen

macosxrumors: Microsoft porting Windows Presentation Foundation to Mac OS X

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macOS   Windows Presentation Foundation will support Mac OS X

• Thread starter gekko513
• Start date Sep 15, 2005
• Sort by reaction score
• Apple Programming

macrumors 603

• Sep 15, 2005

This c|net article suggests that graphics-rich applications developed using Microsofts WPF/E software will run on several platforms where Mac OS X is one of them. This is news to me at least.  

macrumors 6502a

• Sep 17, 2005

Cool. I'm not a big MS fan, but they have always done a pretty good job on their development tools.  

While this is a big step for Microsoft, its not a new concept. Trolltech's QT framework has been doing this for a while.  

Moderator emeritus

• Sep 19, 2005

macrumors member

Sounds to me that it is a next generation version of X-Windows or Terminal Services/Remote Desktop on a Mac. MS gets to tie developers into Windows and sell lots of Terminal Server licences (which aren't cheap).  

macrumors 68000

gekko513 said: This c|net article suggests that graphics-rich applications developed using Microsofts WPF/E software will run on several platforms where Mac OS X is one of them. This is news to me at least. Click to expand...

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Windows Presentation Foundation

Framework for building windows desktop applications.

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a UI framework for building Windows desktop applications. WPF supports a broad set of application development features, including an application model, resources, controls, graphics, layout, data binding and documents. WPF uses the Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) to provide a declarative model for application programming. WPF applications are based on a vector graphics architecture. This enables applications to look great on high DPI monitors, as they can be infinitely scaled. WPF also includes a flexible hosting model, which makes it straightforward to host a video in a button, for example. The visual designer provided in Visual Studio makes it easy to build WPF application, with drag-in-drop and/or direct editing of XAML markup. WinForms is another UI framework for building Windows desktop applications that is supported on .NET (6.0.x/5.0.x/3.1.x). WPF and WinForms applications only run on Windows.

• WPF for ARM64 is new for .NET 6.0 and is supported by NET 6.0 Preview 1 and later
• To build the WPF repo and contribute features and fixes for .NET 6.0, the most recent Visual Studio Preview is required
• The Visual Studio WPF designer is now available as part of Visual Studio 2019
• This code base is a fork of the WPF code in the .NET Framework
• Build WPF application, with drag-in-drop and/or direct editing of XAML markup
• You are recommended to use the most recent version of Visual Studio to develop WPF and WinForms applications for .NET

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ISBN: 1590597826

ISBN13: 9781590597828

Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0

The Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly code-named "Avalon") is a key part of .NET 3.0 and provides the foundation for building applications and high-quality user experiences in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

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Build a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Blazor app

• 2 contributors

This isn't the latest version of this article. For the current release, see the .NET 8 version of this article .

This version of ASP.NET Core is no longer supported. For more information, see .NET and .NET Core Support Policy . For the current release, see the .NET 8 version of this article .

This information relates to a pre-release product that may be substantially modified before it's commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

For the current release, see the .NET 8 version of this article .

This tutorial shows you how to build and run a WPF Blazor app. You learn how to:

• Create a WPF Blazor app project
• Add a Razor component to the project
• Run the app on Windows

Prerequisites

• Supported platforms (WPF documentation)
• Visual Studio 2022 with the .NET desktop development workload

Visual Studio workload

If the .NET desktop development workload isn't installed, use the Visual Studio installer to install the workload. For more information, see Modify Visual Studio workloads, components, and language packs .

Create a WPF Blazor project

Launch Visual Studio. In the Start Window , select Create a new project :

In the Create a new project dialog, filter the Project type dropdown to Desktop . Select the C# project template for WPF Application and select the Next button:

In the Configure your new project dialog:

• Set the Project name to WpfBlazor .
• Choose a suitable location for the project.
• Select the Next button.

In the Additional information dialog, select the framework version with the Framework dropdown list. Select the Create button:

Use NuGet Package Manager to install the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.WebView.Wpf NuGet package:

In Solution Explorer , right-click the project's name, WpfBlazor , and select Edit Project File to open the project file ( WpfBlazor.csproj ).

At the top of the project file, change the SDK to Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor :

In the project file's existing <PropertyGroup> add the following markup to set the app's root namespace, which is WpfBlazor in this tutorial:

The preceding guidance on setting the project's root namespace is a temporary workaround. For more information, see [ Blazor][Wpf] Root namespace related issue (dotnet/maui #5861) .

Save the changes to the project file ( WpfBlazor.csproj ).

Add an _Imports.razor file to the root of the project with an @using directive for Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Web .

_Imports.razor :

Save the _Imports.razor file.

Add a wwwroot folder to the project.

Add an index.html file to the wwwroot folder with the following markup.

wwwroot/index.html :

Inside the wwwroot folder, create a css folder.

Add an app.css stylesheet to the wwwroot/css folder with the following content.

wwwroot/css/app.css :

Inside the wwwroot/css folder, create a bootstrap folder. Inside the bootstrap folder, place a copy of bootstrap.min.css . You can obtain the latest version of bootstrap.min.css from the Bootstrap website . Follow navigation bar links to Docs > Download . A direct link can't be provided here because all of the content at the site is versioned in the URL.

Add the following Counter component to the root of the project, which is the default Counter component found in Blazor project templates.

Counter.razor :

Save the Counter component ( Counter.razor ).

If the MainWindow designer isn't open, open it by double-clicking the MainWindow.xaml file in Solution Explorer . In the MainWindow designer, replace the XAML code with the following:

In Solution Explorer , right-click MainWindow.xaml and select View Code :

Add the namespace Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection to the top of the MainWindow.xaml.cs file:

Inside the MainWindow constructor, after the InitializeComponent method call, add the following code:

The InitializeComponent method is automatically generated at app build time and added to the compilation object for the calling class.

The final, complete C# code of MainWindow.xaml.cs with a file-scoped namespace and comments removed:

Run the app

Select the start button in the Visual Studio toolbar:

The app running on Windows:

In this tutorial, you learned how to:

Learn more about Blazor Hybrid apps:

ASP.NET Core Blazor Hybrid

ASP.NET Core

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