Build and ship faster with a developer-optimized Windows experience | LIVE172

Nikola Metulev, Beth Pan, and Aditya Ramnathkar present a Microsoft Build 2026 session on a developer-optimized Windows experience focused on faster, more repeatable local setups and smoother cross-tool workflows.

Overview

The session highlights a streamlined Windows developer workflow that ties together environment setup, terminal and Linux tooling, and container development on Windows.

Developer-focused Windows workflow improvements

• Overview of new developer-focused features, including:
  • Core Utils
  • Native Linux containers
  • One-command setup
  • Local AI hardware considerations

WinGet configuration for repeatable developer setups

• Demonstration of WinGet configuration files to create customizable, repeatable developer environments.
• Uses a GitHub repository as the source of truth for configuration and setup scenarios.
• Announcement: WinGet configuration reaches general availability (GA).

WSL containers: native Linux containers on Windows

• Introduction of WSL containers (native Linux containers on Windows).
• Demonstration of WSLC for managing containers.

Demo: running and packaging an app

• Demonstration of running a Rust application.
• Covers packaging and identity using WinApp CLI.

Cross-framework development without heavy IDE requirements

• Emphasis on cross-framework development workflows that avoid requiring Visual Studio or complex system setup.

Security model for agent-driven actions

• Discussion of security and permission-based access for AI agent actions, focusing on controlling what agents are allowed to do.

Session context

• Part of Microsoft Build 2026 on-demand sessions.
• Event hub: https://build.microsoft.com