Microsoft open sources XAML Studio: a new tool for UI prototyping in .NET
Microsoft has officially released XAML Studio as an open-source project, an advanced tool for XAML user interface prototyping, now available on GitHub under the .NET Foundation. This move represents an important step toward a more collaborative and flexible development ecosystem for the .NET community.
Originally created in 2017 as an internal project during a hackathon, XAML Studio was designed to modernize legacy tools from the WPF era. Today, the project has evolved into a complete standalone application aimed at enabling rapid UI prototyping for WinUI and UWP.
XAML Studio 2.0: main updates
The new XAML Studio 2.0 version, currently available as pre-release source code, introduces several improvements and new features. Building the project requires Visual Studio 2022 and the Windows SDK.
Among the most relevant updates:
- New UI design based on Fluent UI principles
- Improved integration with WinUI 3
- Real-time live XAML rendering
- Monaco-based code editor
- Live data context for testing bindings
- Property inspector and properties explorer
- Updated control library from Community Toolkit and WinUI
These features make XAML Studio a powerful tool for experimenting with layouts and interfaces without needing to create an entire project from scratch.
An open-source project ready to grow
Although XAML Studio 2.0 is still under development and includes some bugs and incomplete features, opening the source code represents a major opportunity for the community. Developers can directly contribute to the project, report issues, and propose new features.
Additionally, the open-source approach opens the door to potential integrations with alternative platforms such as Avalonia and Uno Platform, further expanding the tool’s possible use cases.
Why XAML Studio matters for developers
The release of XAML Studio under the MIT license confirms Microsoft’s commitment to promoting collaborative and modern development practices. Thanks to its integration within the .NET Foundation, the tool provides a fast feedback loop for designing XAML interfaces, eliminating the complexity and overhead of traditional project scaffolding.
For .NET developers, designers, and product teams, XAML Studio positions itself as a strategic resource to accelerate UI development workflows for both current and future applications.
