Download channels show upcoming features
The Windows App SDK is available in three different channels; you can choose between the current stable release, a preview release for features that should ship soon, or an experimental channel where new features are trialed. The current supported release is Version 1.5.5, released early in July 2024. The next major release will be in six months or so. The current preview release predates the current build, so a new version should be available soon. Experimental builds are based on the development tree of the planned 1.6 release, with a second release in July 2024.
Microsoft provides a list of the features available in each channel, along with the current support life cycle. Versions are supported for a year from initial release, so the current 1.5 release will be in support until the end of February 2025, with Version 1.4 dropping out of support at the end of August 2024. There’s one unusual caveat to the Windows App SDK support: Although it offers compatibility back to Windows 10 Version 1809, technically only in-support versions of Windows are covered.
The Windows App SDK and the Copilot Runtime
The Windows App SDK is intended to be a key component of the Copilot Runtime, hosting, among other features, artificial intelligence APIs based on the Phi Silica local generative AI model and AI-powered OCR services. However, these promised features are still missing from the current Version 1.6 experimental builds, two months after Build. If Microsoft wants to shift developers’ attention to Windows, it needs to capitalize on the capabilities of its new hardware and ship Copilot Runtime APIs as soon as possible and accelerate the transition of Version 1.6 from experimental to production.
