Microsoft Promises “A Leap Forward” for Windows 11 with WinUI3
Windows 11 isn’t just moving to WinUI 3; Microsoft’s also making WinUI 3 faster
Microsoft is working to make Windows 11 faster and more responsive. Part of this effort is moving core Windows experiences to WinUI 3, Microsoft’s native UI framework. This change will make Windows’ UI more consistent and faster, while reducing memory usage. Additionally, Microsoft is also working to make WinUI 3 itself faster, further boosting Windows 11’s responsiveness.
In a recent GitHub post, Microsoft has confirmed its “strategic commitment to WinUI”. It is Microsoft’s “native framework moving forward”, and performance is a major focus.
Right now, Microsoft is using File Explorer and Notepad as “primary benchmarks” for WinUI changes. However, Microsoft is focusing on changes that will benefit most applications using WinUI.
Hello WinUI Community!
Our mission is to make WinUI 3 the best native UI platform for Windows experiences and apps and performance is at the heart of that effort. Moving from WinUI 2 to WinUI 3 should always be a clear win for performance, and apps should get great results without heavy lifting.
Why Now
Pavan recently shared a blog post, in which “more fluid and responsive app interactions: Reducing interaction latency by moving core Windows experiences to the WinUI3 framework” was mentioned as part of our quality commitment. Making this a reality means delivering performance improvements at multiple levels, including within WinUI itself. This also reinforces our strategic commitment to WinUI as the native framework going forward. We know that performance is just one piece of the puzzle and that there are many other areas that deserve our continued attention. Rest assured, we remain focused on those as well.
Where We’re Focused
We’ve been zeroing in on launch time, using File Explorer and Notepad as our primary benchmarks, with an emphasis on improvements that broadly benefit most apps.
So far, Microsoft has reported major improvements to WinUI in File Explorer. When launching File Explorer, Microsoft has reported a 25% reduction in time spent on WinUI code. That’s a dramatic speed boost. Allocations and function calls have also been greatly reduced, lowering resource utilisation.
Soon, Microsoft plans to deliver their improvements to the development branch of WinUI. Over time, these improvements will be rolled into their main WinUI 3 branch. These changes will also be coming to their WinAppSDK 2.x where possible.
The Results So Far
Here’s what we’re seeing for the WinUI portion of File Explorer launch:
Metric Improvement Allocations 41% fewer Transient allocations 63% fewer Function calls 45% fewer Time spent in WinUI code 25% reduction
Windows 11 is improving on multiple fronts
Microsoft’s changes to WinUI are part of a wave of upcoming Windows 11 updates. These updates are part of Microsoft’s “Windows K2” program. Moving apps to WinUI 3 should reduce Windows 11’s resource utilisation and boost performance. Additionally, changes like Microsoft’s “Low Latency Profile” (LLP) should further increase responsiveness with tactical CPU boosts. These changes will come together to deliver a snappier version of Windows.
Other changes Microsoft has planned include removing MSN from Windows 11’s Widgets feed. Other changes include more user control over Windows updates, features that users have requested for more than a decade.
With the arrival of Googlebook devices later this year, Microsoft needs to prove itself to ensure that Windows remains the world’s dominant PC OS. Microsoft can no longer ignore Windows users. Viable alternatives have arrived, and Microsoft now needs to earn its position in the OS market.
You can join the discussion on Microsoft’s planned improvements for Windows 11 on the OC3D Forums.
