Psf v2021.12.07 Released

The Package Support Framework (PSF) was started by Microsoft as an Open Source Project to help Win32 and .Net Framework based software operate in the new MSIX Container runtime, however the latest changes are now made in my own fork at https://github.com/TimMangan/MSIX-PackageSupportFramework/tree/develop .

The “Post-Thanksgiving” release brings in some additional changes in the PSF for at least one …

New (free) MSIX Book Released

A Developer's Guide to MSIX book cover.

I am really excited to announce the availability of a new (and free) community Ebook on MSIX that is for developers of traditional Win32 and/or .Net Framework applications that are interested in modernizing to MSIX.

The book took 12 months to come to fruition, and my co-authors have been invaluable in helping ensure that we have both great coverage and …

PSF Update 2021.11.24 Now Released

The Package Support Framework (PSF) was started by Microsoft as an Open Source Project to help Win32 and .Net Framework based software operate in the new MSIX Container runtime, however the latest changes are now made in my own fork at https://github.com/TimMangan/MSIX-PackageSupportFramework/tree/develop .

The “Thanksgiving” release brings in some sought after changes in the PSF for issues that …

Published
Categorized as MSIX, PSF Tagged ,

MSIX and MaxVersionTested

As it may not be intuitive, I am finding it necessary to explain the markings that exist within MSIX packages that relate to the OS version that the package is installed/run on.

Contained in the AppXManifest file inside of every MSIX package is an element that looks like this:

<Dependencies<TargetDeviceFamily Name="Windows.Desktop" MinVersion="10.0.16299.0" MaxVersionTested="10.0.19044.0" /</Dependencies

The two important fields …

Published
Categorized as MSIX Tagged

Training in a pandemic, one year in and going strong.

A remote class in 2020

Most of our business is in training the IT Staffs of large organizations to enable them to better prepare and deliver applications to their (mostly) internal users, specifically around the Microsoft App-V and MSIX technologies.  We also do some consulting in the Citrix and End-User-Computing space, and sell some tools. And the bulk of our …

Convert MSIXs to VHD or CIM for App Attach

ConversionsMSIX App Attach requires a format conversion from the standard msix file in order to attach the MSIX packages efficiently.  This efficiency is important in non-persistent image scenarios like pooled VDI, as well as semi-persistent scenarios like shared multi-user operating system connections (Server Based Computing, like RDS/RDMI as well as multiuser Windows 10) as the end-user doesn’t want to wait …

How to Automate Conversion from App-V to MSIX

Customers that use Microsoft App-V are certainly interested in the potential future of MSIX. While the compatibility levels for typical applications under MSIX is not yet acceptable overall and we will be continuing to leverage App-V for years (decades?) to come, I believe that it is important for them to begin the job of working with MSIX apps when we …

PsfTooling 4.8

Version 4.8 of PsfTooling is now available in the Microsoft Store.  A free tool, it is used in conjunction with the Microsoft MSIX Packaging tool to add and configure the Package Support Framework (PSF) during the repackaging process.

For those unaware, PSF stands for Package Support Framework, an open source utility that I contribute to for helping traditional