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​Microsoft is shutting down one of its Windows app building tools

Developers using Windows App Studio will need to transition to the new Windows Template Studio.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer
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Stephen Brashear, Getty Images

Microsoft is shutting down Windows App Studio app building tool and urging developers to move to the newer Windows Template Studio.

Microsoft launched Windows App Studio in 2013 to help novice developers create Windows Phone apps via a series of web-based templates. The tool was partially meant to help fill the void of apps for Microsoft's fledgling mobile platform, but was later expanded to let anyone create apps for Windows 10 too under the universal Windows application framework.

Windows Template Studio, which is free and open source, is an "evolution" of Windows App Studio, according to Microsoft.

"We took our learnings from the code generation engine and the existing wizard to provide a strong foundation for our code generation and developer experience in Windows Template Studio," said Microsoft's Windows Apps Team.

It's a Visual Studio 2017 extension which aims to help developers quickly create Universal Windows apps through a wizard-based UI to guide the development process. Microsoft launched Windows Template Studio in May.

Microsoft phasing out the program in stages beginning on July 15, when only existing users can sign in and download projects. On September 15 the application editor will stop working. It will then shut down Windows App Studio on December 1, so developers need to download any projects before that date.

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