For more information, see Desktop Bridge. A few restrictions apply with respect to what registry calls or APIs your desktop application uses, but in many cases you can create alternate code paths to achieve similar functionality while running in an app package. In Visual Studio 2017 version 15.4 and later, you can create a Windows Application Package Project to greatly simplify the work of packaging your existing desktop application. You can also add a UWP app to a desktop solution in Visual Studio, and package them together in a single package and use Windows APIs to communicate between them. Apps can add UWP features such as touch, or call APIs from the modern Windows API set. In Windows 10 and later, you can package your existing desktop application or COM object as a UWP app. UWP applications, see Choose your technology. Desktop applications in C++ can run on Windows XP through Windows 11 (although Windows XP is no longer officially supported and there are many Windows APIs that have been introduced since then).Ī desktop application is distinct from a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app, which can run on PCs running Windows 11, Windows 10, XBox, Windows Phone, Surface Hub, and other devices.
A desktop application in C++ is a native application that can access the full set of Windows APIs and either runs in a window or in the system console.