Boost Development Productivity: Windows Latest Tools and Tips

Session Date: May 22, 2025

Duration: 1 hour
Speakers: Kayla Cinnamon (Senior Product Manager, Microsoft), Craig Loewen (Senior Product Manager, Microsoft), Larry Osterman (Principal Software Design Engineer, Microsoft)

Link: [Microsoft Build 2025 Session BRK226]

Windows Developer Tools

Executive Summary

This session showcases the latest productivity tools and enhancements from the Windows developer tools team, featuring live demonstrations of PowerToys, Windows Terminal, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), WinGet, and the new Edit text editor. The speakers demonstrate how these tools work together to streamline developer workflows and boost productivity across Windows development environments.

Key Topics Covered

⚡ 1. PowerToys: Enhanced Windows Utilities Suite

ZoomIt Integration

New Addition: Screen annotation and zoom tool integrated from SysInternals

  • Bundled experience - No separate installation required
  • Live annotation during presentations and demos
  • Seamless PowerToys integration with open source availability

Advanced Paste: AI-Powered Clipboard Enhancement

Core Capabilities:

  • Format transformation - Paste content in any desired format
  • Local API integration - Seamless blend of local and AI capabilities
  • AI-powered scenarios - Complex content transformations

Live Demo Highlights:

  • HTML → Markdown conversion with GitHub issue content
  • CSV → Markdown table with custom formatting requests
  • Image OCR extraction - Serial number from image to file
  • Media format conversion - MOV to MP4/MP3 using Windows APIs

AI Agent Integration:

User action: Copy image with serial number
AI workflow: Image OCR → Text extraction → File creation → Explorer integration

🚀 2. Command Palette: Next-Generation Launcher

Evolution from PowerToys Run

Design Goals:

  • Performance optimization from ground up
  • Extensibility framework - Top user request fulfilled
  • Progressive enhancement while maintaining familiar functionality

Core Features Demonstration

  • Application launcher with instant search
  • Run commands - Windows R replacement capability
  • File search and bookmarks - URL and file path support
  • WinGet integration - Package search with markdown previews

Live Extension Development

On-Stage Development:

  1. Scaffolding - dotnet new template for Command Palette extensions
  2. Visual Studio integration - Full debugging experience
  3. Performance Monitor extension - CPU/memory monitoring example
  4. Breakpoint debugging - Full development environment support

Developer Experience:

  • Built-in scaffolding via Command Palette interface
  • Comprehensive documentation with namespace declarations
  • Community ecosystem - Extensions available via WinGet repository
  • ARM64 support for modern hardware

📝 3. Windows Built-in Text Editor: “Edit”

Revolutionary Command-Line Integration

Problem Solved: Breaking workflow when editing configuration files

  • Console-based editing without leaving command line context
  • Windows-familiar interface - File menus, mouse support, standard shortcuts
  • No learning curve - File → Exit instead of cryptic command sequences

Advanced Capabilities

Performance Features:

  • Large file handling - 100MB+ files load instantly
  • Smart loading - Only reads visible content portions
  • Dynamic resizing - Automatic adjustment to console window changes

Standard Features:

  • Search functionality - Ctrl+F familiar experience
  • Word wrap and formatting options
  • Full keyboard and mouse support
  • Scratch pad functionality for quick notes and protocol decoding

Open Source Availability

  • GitHub repository: github.com/MicrosoftEdit
  • Active community - Issues, pull requests, and contributions welcomed
  • Release distribution - Available now via GitHub releases page
  • Future integration - Coming to Windows as built-in component

🖥️ 4. Windows Settings Improvements

Developer Settings Reorganization

“For Developers” → “Advanced” Page Redesign:

  • Improved discoverability - Features useful beyond developers
  • Better organization - Popular features prominently displayed
  • Maintained search compatibility - Deep linking and search terms preserved

Key Features Highlighted

Process Management:

  • End Task - Right-click context menu for running applications
  • Task Manager integration without switching applications

File System Enhancements:

  • Long Path support - Registry modification via simple toggle
  • Dev Drive creation - High-performance developer storage

Virtual Environment Controls:

  • Hyper-V enablement - Single-click activation
  • Windows Sandbox access
  • WSL integration (planned) - Centralized virtual workspace management

File Explorer Git Integration

Version Control Awareness:

  • Git repository detection - Automatic integration in File Explorer columns
  • Branch information - Current branch display in status bar
  • File status indicators - Modified, committed, staged visualization
  • Diff information - Changes between branch and origin

Technical Implementation:

  • Open source component - Powered by Windows Advanced Settings
  • Column integration - Native File Explorer enhancement
  • Windows Insider availability - Dev and Beta channels

📦 5. WinGet Configuration Management

Export and Import System Configuration

Configuration Export:

winget configure export

Capabilities Demonstrated:

  • Complete system state capture - Applications, settings, and configurations
  • PowerShell script integration - Dynamic configuration detection
  • Team standardization - Shared configuration files for consistent environments

Desired State Configuration (DSC) v3

Advanced Features:

  • Application-specific settings - Beyond just application installation
  • WinGet settings preservation - Progress bar themes, visual preferences
  • Registry and system settings - Dark/light mode, advanced preferences

Live Demo Results:

  • Hands-free setup - Automated team environment configuration
  • Validation checks - Skip already-installed components
  • Settings synchronization - Complete environment replication

💻 6. Windows Terminal Enhancements

User Interface Improvements

Tab Menu Customization:

  • Visual drag-and-drop - Rearrange profiles without JSON editing
  • Folder organization - Group related profiles (WSL, development environments)
  • Separator support - Visual organization of favorites

Path Translation Features:

  • Automatic slash conversion - Windows backslashes → Linux forward slashes
  • Drive letter mapping - D: → /mnt/d/ automatic conversion
  • WSL auto-detection - Enabled by default for Linux distributions
  • Drag-and-drop enhancement - Seamless file path integration

🐧 7. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Open Source

Community and Ecosystem Impact

Major Announcement: WSL is now fully open source

  • Repository: github.com/Microsoft/WSL
  • Documentation Hub: wsl.dev

Partner Ecosystem:

  • Linux Distributions: Red Hat, OpenSUSE, Canonical, Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora
  • Development Tools: NVIDIA AI Workbench, Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop
  • Industry Applications: DreamWorks Moonray rendering engine for films

Developer Workflow Integration

Real-World Usage:

  • Azure SDK team adoption - Entire teams using WSL for cross-platform development
  • Windows host, Linux development - Best of both worlds approach
  • Seamless integration - “Feels like the same machine” experience

Technical Architecture and Integration

PowerToys Ecosystem

Unified Platform:

  • Consistent experience across utilities
  • Shared infrastructure for settings, updates, and community contributions
  • Open source foundation enabling community extensions and improvements

Windows Terminal as Development Hub

Central Command Interface:

  • Profile management for different development environments
  • WSL integration with automatic path translation
  • Customizable workflows supporting diverse development scenarios

Configuration as Code

Infrastructure Approach:

  • Declarative configuration via WinGet DSC files
  • Version control friendly YAML-based configuration management
  • Team standardization through shared configuration repositories

Live Demo Highlights

Extension Development Workflow

Real-Time Development:

  1. Command Palette extension creation - Scaffolded in seconds
  2. Performance Monitor utility - CPU/memory monitoring integration
  3. Full debugging support - Breakpoints and step-through debugging
  4. Immediate deployment - Extension available instantly in Command Palette

Configuration Export/Import Demo

System State Management:

  1. Full system export - Applications, settings, preferences captured
  2. Visual theme change - Dark to light mode as demonstration
  3. Automated import - Complete configuration restoration
  4. Team sharing capability - Configuration files as team standards

Session Highlights

“Our whole goal is to go faster than the speed of thought.” - Kayla Cinnamon (on Command Palette performance)

“It doesn’t break my flow, and that’s a big deal for me… I don’t have to remember control W, Q, exclamation point, X, S, C, magic.” - Larry Osterman (on Edit text editor)

“It all feels like the same machine. You don’t have to worry: Am I in Windows? Am I in Linux? You can just drag and drop files over. It just works.” - Craig Loewen (on WSL integration)

“Finally! It’s just like I’ve wanted this feature for, like, forever.” - Larry Osterman (on Terminal UI customization)

Practical Implementation Guide

Getting Started Checklist

PowerToys Installation:

  1. Install latest PowerToys from Microsoft Store or GitHub
  2. Enable ZoomIt for presentation and debugging needs
  3. Configure Advanced Paste with AI capabilities
  4. Set up Command Palette as Windows+R replacement

Development Environment Setup:

  1. Download Edit text editor from GitHub releases
  2. Enable Windows Advanced settings for developer features
  3. Configure File Explorer Git integration (Windows Insider)
  4. Set up Terminal Canary for latest features

Team Configuration Management:

  1. Export current development environment with winget configure export
  2. Share configuration files via version control
  3. Standardize team development environments
  4. Document custom configurations and extensions

Extension Development Resources

Command Palette Extensions:

  • Documentation: Command Palette developer docs
  • Scaffolding: Built-in extension creation tools
  • Community: WinGet repository for extension sharing
  • Debugging: Full Visual Studio integration support

Future Roadmap and Community Engagement

Immediate Availability

  • PowerToys 0.91: Latest release with Command Palette improvements
  • Edit Text Editor: Available now via GitHub releases
  • WSL Open Source: Full source code and community contributions welcomed
  • Terminal Canary: Advanced features preview channel

Windows Insider Features

  • File Explorer Git Integration: Dev and Beta channels
  • Advanced Settings Page: Improved developer experience
  • Configuration Management: DSC v3 capabilities

Community Contribution Opportunities

  • PowerToys: Open source contributions and community extensions
  • Edit Text Editor: Active repository seeking contributions and feedback
  • WSL: Full open source project with partner ecosystem
  • Documentation: Community contributions to development guides

About the Speakers

Kayla Cinnamon

Senior Product Manager
Former PM for Windows Terminal, current PM for PowerToys. Design and technical background with focus on developer experiences. RPI graduate in information technology and UI design.

Craig Loewen

Senior Product Manager

Microsoft

Primary product owner for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), now focusing on AI tools and workflows. Mechatronics engineering background from University of Waterloo.

Larry Osterman

This session demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to developer productivity by creating integrated tools that eliminate friction in daily development workflows while maintaining the openness and extensibility that developers demand.

40+ years at Microsoft spanning MS-DOS, networking, multimedia, Azure SDK development in C++ and Rust. Microsoft Learn video creator and Seattle Men’s Chorus member.