While attention may be focused on Microsoft's AI-related announcements announcement's today, the company has another treat in store for developers: a new Windows 10 SDK preview. Developers can now get their hands on Windows 10 SDK preview build 17110, which is meant to be used in conjunction with Windows 10 Insider preview build 17110 or greater.
The list of what's new in this release is the same as it has been for previous recent releases. That includes the C++/WinRT headers and cppwinrt compiler, as well as new MIDL key words. Here's a look:
What's New
- C++/WinRT Now Available: The C++/WinRT headers and cppwinrt compiler (cppwinrt.exe) are now included in the Windows SDK. The compiler comes in handy if you need to consume a third-party WinRT component or if you need to author your own WinRT components with C++/WinRT. The easiest way to get working with it after installing the Windows Insider Preview SDK is to start the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt and run the compiler in that environment. Authoring support is currently experimental and subject to change. Stay tuned as we will publish more detailed instructions on how to use the compiler in the coming week. The ModernCPP blog has a deeper dive into the CppWinRT compiler. Please give us feedback by creating an issue at: https://github.com/microsoft/cppwinrt.
Breaking Changes
- New MIDL key words - As a part of the "modernizing IDL" effort, several new keywords are added to the midlrt tool. These new keywords will cause build breaks if they are encountered in IDL files. The new keywords are:
- event
- set
- get
- partial
- unsealed
- overridable
- protected
- importwinmd
A full list of API updates and additions can be found in Microsoft's release notes. This SDK preview build is only supported by Visual Studio 2017 and can be installed alongside previous SDKs. Developers can download SDK preview build 17110 at Microsoft now (opens in new tab).
