[pseufaux]

I read though the GitHub readme but I'm still unsure what "new" this brings this brings to the table. It seems like a thin wrapper over existing tools. Since Microsoft rarely deprecates and removes anything, this feels like just another unnecessary complexity layer.

I'm not a traditional app dev on Windows though, so I'm likely missing something. For those of you who are more familiar, what about this are you excited about?

[pjc50]

It is, but it's like "dotnet new" templates: a means of getting to a working minimal setup that jumps through the Microsoft hoops for you. MSIX and Package Identity are definitely headaches to get set up.

[ripley12]

Yes, Package Identity was the bane of my existence for a while. It's wild how MS gated important APIs behind it and then made it so difficult+impractical to work with (I honestly think this is a large part of why WinRT was mostly ignored by developers).

I've moved on, but this looks like it will at least fix some of the paper cuts.

[WorldMaker]

It's a CLI for especially web developers that prefer CLI tools over graphical installers and needing to have big IDEs installed like Visual Studio.

It's another small nail in the coffin of the monolithic Visual Studio, which is maybe exciting if you are rooting against Microsoft's paid products from their DevDiv and for their free-to-start options like VSCode.