Microsoft wants devs to build Electron AI apps on Windows 11, says no need of native code, despite RAM concerns

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨throws_lemy@reddthat.com⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/17/microsoft-wants-devs-to-build-electron-ai-apps-on-windows-11-says-no-need-of-native-code-despite-ram-concerns/

Electron apps are ruining the Windows 11 experience, and even the JavaScript creator has warned against ‘rushed web UX over native,’ but it doesn’t look like that will change Microsoft’s plans. In a post on X and other places, Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to AI in Windows 11 and encouraged Electron developers to consider using AI in their apps.

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melroy@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Move to Linux while you still can (unless you are living already in California and it's forbidden)

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- sen@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Linux is forbidden in California? America’s a weird fuckin place.
  
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  - Nawor3565@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    No, it’s not forbidden. No idea what that commenter is talking about.
    
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  - SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It’s a free country
    
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- drath@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Stares nervously at waybar’s memory usage
  
  It’s nowhere near the electron level, but we have bloat here as well. 62 megs to show a plain line of text, 5mb to append text to a file, 20mb to query dns, another 20 to reconnect to wifi, etc, and it adds up. I used to host sites on 32mb ram, play 3d games on 64mb ram, now even fitting just a bare terminal system on 128mb cloud slice is problematic.
  
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WesternInfidels@feddit.online ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
We could view this as “MS pushes for stupid direction that clued-in tech people are opposed to,” or we could view this as “MS gives up on native apps because everyone else of consequence already has.” I hate it but I have eyes.

If AI enhanced coding is really so great, we might expect to see a Renaissance of small, efficient native apps, even on platforms like Android. I’m not holding my breath, though.

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- brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Fully verifiable programming is much “better” with LLMs. This recent one, for example:
  
  huggingface.co/mistralai/Leanstral-2603
  
  Leanstral is the first open-source code agent designed for Lean 4, a proof assistant capable of expressing complex mathematical objects such as perfectoid spaces and software specifications like properties of Rust fragments.
  
  github.com/AeneasVerif/aeneas
  
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DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Of course MS would want people to develop Electron apps given they’re trying to move Windows to the cloud anyways.

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- melroy@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Ah yes. Id verification. Subscription model.
  
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  - DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I was referring to the Windows 365 thin clients that were recently announced, which counts as a cloud-based subscription.
    
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stoly@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Can someone explain what an electron app is?

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- khanh@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Basically, you know how Spotify allows you to use the version you access on the web as if it’s an app (all the features are there)? That’s called a Progressive Web App (PWA). Basically, Electron apps open up their own browser to run a PWA. Why is this bad? 2 Chrome tabs already take up a lot of memory. Now imagine 3.
  
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  - stoly@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That was a fantastic explanation. Thank you.
    
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Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Turns out absolutely everybody hate Windows, including Microsoft.

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pie_enjoyer@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why Microsoft, why?

Do they want to abandon NT Kernel in favor of AI Kernel or Linux?

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- neidu3@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Introducing the next generation of OS: Microsoft OS AINT^tm^
  
  Combines the best features of NT with an AI agent that offload everything onto one drive. Requires an internet connection and a Microsoft account to boot, but that’s OK; once the kernel and the drivers are loaded, you can spend two hours in a dose prompt to be able to load files locally
  
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  - pie_enjoyer@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I can see that happening
    
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- Samskara@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The NT kernel is one of the better parts of windows.
  
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- melroy@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  And don't get me started on ID verification during windows install.
  
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melsaskca@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Who will be the next shining light to emerge now that Microsoft has become extremely entrenched?

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- FinalRemix@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Linux, duh.
  
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IronKrill@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If we’re going to slop it up with AI so hard you don’t even look at the code can we at least use performant tools and start slopping Rust or something instead, dear god.

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Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Not that I’m interested in any of those apps, but wouldn’t that mean that it makes it way easier to port them to other OSs (except maybe of the AI part)?

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- Barracuda@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It should.
  
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- Aqarius@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It’s to make it easier to port them to cloud, for when win12 makes your PC a thin client.
  
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FireWire400@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
So no more UWP apps? Ok, I thought those were supposed to be the future but whatever…

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boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I think anyone creating serious windows applications should use Qt.

If it’s proprietary, they get to sponsor the Qt project. If it’s FOSS, they don’t have to. It’ll use fewer resources and much like an Electron app, but unlike native Windows apps, it’ll run on Linux and Mac OS.

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Tetragrade@leminal.space ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Just build Electron native or something, christ.

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