5
Setting up your machine
Here are a few basic things you’ll need to do to set up
your environment for writing a UWP app.
If you have a PC:
1. Get Windows 10: To develop UWP apps, you need
the latest RTM version of Windows (that is, not the
Insider Preview or Preview SDK).
2. Download or update Visual Studio: Microsoft
Visual Studio 2015 helps you design, code, test, and
debug your apps. If you don’t already have Visual
Studio 2015, install the free Microsoft Visual Studio
Community 2015. It includes device and phone
simulators for testing your apps. Download Windows
10 developer tools.
3. (Optional) Enable your device for development:
Visual Studio provides a wide range of great
emulators for testing. If you want to test your apps on
an actual device, you must enable it for development.
Find instructions at the following link: Enable your
device for development
4. Register as an app developer: You can start
developing apps now, but before you can submit
them to the store, you need a developer account. To
get a developer account, go to the Sign up page.
Get everything you need in one VM
Start coding sooner with a virtual machine prepped for
Windows 10 development. It has the latest versions of
Windows, the developer tools, SDKs, and samples ready
to go. Get the Windows 10 development VM here.
Using a Mac?
With popular third-party solutions like Apple Boot
Camp, Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Fusion, and Parallels
Desktop, you can install Windows 10 and Microsoft
Visual Studio on your Apple computer. Once you
have Windows 10 running on your Mac, follow the
instructions under “If you have a PC” above.
Resources
• More on getting started with Visual Studio:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/
porting/getting-started-creating-a-project
• Don’t want to use Visual Studio? Download the
standalone Windows SDK for Windows 10 installer.
• Options for developing on a Mac:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/
porting/setting-up-your-mac-with-windows-10
• Windows 10 development VM:
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/
downloads/virtual-machines
When you install Visual Studio, use the custom
option and make sure all Universal Windows
App Development Tools options are selected, as
shown here.
This section covers the basics of getting started with UWP, including how to set
up your development environment and which language to choose.
02
Getting started
