Microsoft aims to speed Windows with 'leap forward' in WinUI 3 perf

Microsoft claims to have achieved a "leap forward" in performance for WinUI 3, the current native framework for Windows apps, with a 25 percent improvement for the parts of File Explorer coded using this framework.

Software engineer lead Beth Pan posted figures for the WinUI portion of File Explorer, showing 41 percent fewer memory allocations and 45 percent fewer function calls. She added that some optimizations "involve small or large breaking changes," so they will be opt-in at first for developers using the framework. The plan is for the optimizations to become the default in future versions of WinUI and the Windows App SDK, with opt-out available when needed.

The new optimizations are part of a push to make Windows more responsive. In March, Windows boss Pavan Davuluri promised to improve the quality of the operating system, including a commitment to a "faster and more dependable File Explorer." His post ...