WinForm vs WPF vs UWP vs Console - The C# Desktop UI Showdown (and the future with .NET 5)

Which C# desktop UI should I use? Is the latest one the best? Is WinForms dead? Aren't Console applications super-old technology? These are all questions I get on a weekly basis so I thought I would take some time and walk through the four major options for desktop applications. We will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each UI, and then we will discuss the future.

One of these platforms is finally dying, and it probably isn't the one you think.

At the end, we will also discuss the future of the .NET Framework, .NET Core, and .NET 5 so that you can properly understand the direction you need to head going forward.

0:00 - Intro
1:04 - About contents of this video
2:01 - Console Application
6:30 - Windows Forms (WinForms)
13:36 - Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
21:46 - Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
31:54 - Future of User Interfaces and .NET Frameworks
49:35 - What should you use for new development?
57:36 - Summary and concluding remarks

Thanks to Ralfs HBK for the chapter breakout

[QuadraAce]

Tim, you really don't know how much impact you have on people lives doing this highly professional, educational videos. Thank you and please, never stop.

[yanwo]

Just found your site. Great! And 10, 000 thanks for no background "music" and no ego window in the corner showing nothing but you talking.

[diyguild]

Thanks for simplifying this!!! I feel like I actually understand not only the fundementals of the technologies but also the business decisions behind them. Great video, really appreciate you taking the time to make this!

[ItsAStuckPixel]

almost 2 years after this is released and im still learning something from it. love your content!

[johnwolnisty]

Excellent compare and contrast, , Tim!
I've been a professional developer since 1978. I'd say 90% of my development is in WinForms for precisely the reasons you stated. I'm usually writing a custom app for a customer that wants it yesterday and could care less about the newest and shiniest. Now if I were developing a product for sale with a wider market, WPF all the way.
Excellent series of videos! I'm recommending them to my team members.

[lixin]

memo:
1. UWP will be the first to fade away
2. WinForm will still work for a long time
3. WinForm/WPF will not be cross-platform
4. Xamarin will be the cross-platform desktop UI in the future
5. .NET framework will die, 4.8 is the last version, because it will not be cross-platform
6. .NET core and Xamarin will merge into .NET 5
7. WinForm/WPF will migrate to .NET core/5
8. Default choice for desktop UI framework is WPF, while Console is still useful for automation, and WinForm for RAD
9. .net framework is still worth learning, because there are small differences between it and .NET core

[disruptive_innovator]

Bless you for this. I've slowly developed an intuition of when to use these frameworks but going over tutorials and the MS documentation especially never laid out each tool's purpose and limitations clearly like you have done. very helpful

[davidiverson]

Tim, as always thanks for breaking down something that gets overcomplicated and showing the realistic use cases for each of these UI tools!

[fallonmassey]

My favorite part of this video:
Winforms is simple, and simple gets you out the door.
If I had to ship a windows UI, I would choose WPF, but I have a LOT of need for a GUI to either test things or internal development, and Winforms is by far easier to just get up and deliver!

[OzzFan]

Thanks for this video! As a newcomer to C# I was wondering which I should focus on creating and what the pros and cons were of each. This video explains everything quite clearly. Thanks for that!

[niksatan]

dude you read my mind, exactly video what i was looking for and topics i was confused about, thanks!

[LuzuVlogsGamer]

These videos are so well made and informative even if you researched about what you are going to talk its still enjoyable to hear what you have to say.

[colonial]

One of the best videos on this subject! Thanks a lot.

[indmnltr]

I start using WinForm a year ago. Still using and learning it. I was thinking about learning UWP. after watching this, I changed my mind. I'm gonna stick to the WinForm and learn WPF. Btw great video.

[ramigamal]

Thank you Tim,
I was confused between them, and now I know what I will do.

[qwerughweiugrwiehrg]

Thanks for this, and thanks for the channel! Longtime developer, and started C# six years ago; I use it exclusively now. Just looking through your topics has me lined up to go to school for the deeper aspects like interfaces, async/await, etc. Great stuff.

[RalfsBalodis]

0:00 - Intro
1:04 - About contents of this video
2:01 - Console Application
6:30 - Windows Forms (WinForms)
13:36 - Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
21:46 - Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
31:54 - Future of User Interfaces and .NET Frameworks
49:35 - What should you use for new development?
57:36 - Summary and concluding remarks

[felipediazvlog]

Thanks you, very orienting, informing, it's like a map. Thanks!

[mafazpx]

Thank you for this comparison. Great insight, listened till the end. It emboldened my love for WPF further...

[vinnypassmore]

Super cool talk at a level most people can understand, thanks Tim for sharing.