Microsoft has released version 8 of the Windows Community Toolkit. The developers describe this as a huge update with an array of improvements and features, including new galleries and a major reworking of the way the toolkit is built and published from top-to-bottom.

The Windows Community Toolkit is a collection of controls for WinUI 2, WinUI 3, and Uno Platform developers. It simplifies and demonstrates common developer tasks building experiences for Windows 10 and Windows 11 with .NET. The toolkit is part of the .NET Foundation.

The developers say that they realized that maintaining two independent branches of the toolkit - for WinUI 3 and the WindowsAppSDK - wasn't feasible, so they've reworked it to enable the targeting of  multiple platforms from a single-codebase.

In practical terms, the Toolkit Gallery app has undergone a major overhaul. It looks different, and the new design integrates samples and documentation in a single page. The team says this should make it easier for your to play around and explore a components feature set. The samples have also been revamped and extended.

There's a revamped GridSplitter control that now has a ContentSizer and PropertySizer, meaning you can make existing controls resizeable, like an expanded NavigationView or a pop-out drawer made with Expander.

A new HeaderedControls package adds a new HeaderedTreeView control, and a new Segmented Control lets users pick one of several options. The team says this is a great control to allow users to carry out actions such as setting filters, or changing a view. There are also new Settings Controls for cards and expanders.

Alongside the new components and controls, some elements have been dropped from the new release. The list includes the AdaptiveGridView, DataGrid, DropShadowPanel, Expander, InAppNotification, MarkdownTextBlock, Notifications, RadialGradientBrush, RadialProgressBar, and XAML Islands Helpers. Some of the elements that have been dropped are now included in the WinUI, others such as DataGrid now have their own projects.

The Windows Community Toolkit is available on GitHub now.

More Information

Windows Community Toolkit On GitHub

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