Developing apps for Windows is hard. There are a lot of elements to consider, rules to obey, and standards to adopt before you even get started with making the app itself. Fortunately, it seems like Microsoft understands this, as it is constantly releasing new tools and features that remove the roadblocks preventing people from launching their own Windows apps.

If you find developing for Windows a chore, you're going to want to check out this new tool Microsoft has released. It's called "winapp," and it claims to reduce the number of steps it takes to properly configure your app so you can get it out the door easier. Plus, it looks stylish to boot.

Microsoft's new winapp tool aims to untangle the complex parts of app development

You can give it a spin right now

Over on Windows Blogs, Microsoft explains what winapp can do for you as a developer. Its main goal is to simplify all the complex parts of managing different components during Windows app development, bundling everything into a single solution:

Windows development often involves managing multiple SDKs, creating and editing multiple manifests, generating certificates and navigating intricate packaging requirements. The goal of this project is to unify these tasks into a single CLI, letting you focus on building great apps rather than fighting with configuration.

Microsoft goes on to show off what winapp can do. It starts by showing off the command "winapp init," which grabs all the SDK packages you need, creates some projections, and then gets your project ready for development. Microsoft claims that this single command can replace "multiple error-prone manual steps," which sounds like a win to me.

Other features include the "winapp create-debug-identity" command, which gives your app a debug Package Identity so you can test out a feature without needing to go through the process of generating one yourself. And while the init command does automatically make an app manifest, you can still edit it using the "winapp manifest" command, and create a certificate with the "winapp cert generate" tool.

Overall, winapp sounds like an excellent tool for Windows developers who want to spend less time configuring things and more time making cool apps. While winapp is still in the testing phase, Microsoft wants developers to download it, give it a try, and give it feedback on how it can improve and what features it could add. If you have WinGet, you can download the general use version of winapp with this command:

winget install microsoft.winappcli

Or, if you work with npm and Electron, use this one:

npm install --save-dev @microsoft/winappcli