What is WinUI?
WinUI (Windows UI Library) is the native user‑interface layer of Windows 10 and later. It provides a modern, fluent design system, a powerful set of controls, and full integration with the Windows ecosystem.
WinUI helps you build responsive, high‑performance apps for desktop, tablets, and Xbox using XAML and C# (or C++/WinRT).
Key Features
- Fluent Design System with adaptive visuals.
- Over 100 native XAML controls.
- Seamless theming and dark mode support.
- Extensible styling and custom templates.
- Optimized for performance on a wide range of devices.
Quick Start
Create a new WinUI 3 project in Visual Studio:
dotnet new winui3 -o MyWinUIApp
cd MyWinUIApp
dotnet build
dotnet run
Or use the Visual Studio wizard: File → New → Project → WinUI → Blank App (WinUI 3).
Sample: Simple Counter
This example shows a button that increments a number.
<Window
x:Class="SampleApp.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:SampleApp"
Title="Counter">
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
<TextBlock x:Name="CountText"
FontSize="24"
Text="0"
HorizontalAlignment="Center"/>
<Button Content="Increase"
Click="OnIncrease"
Margin="0,20,0,0"/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
/// <summary>
/// Code‑behind for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public sealed partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private int _count = 0;
public MainWindow()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
private void OnIncrease(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_count++;
CountText.Text = _count.ToString();
}
}