With Windows 10 being released July 29, 2015, we want to update you on some new things and some things you can do to get ready now.

Windows 10 SDK

We are working to deliver the Windows 10 developer tools for Visual Studio 2015 with the release of Windows 10. This will allow you to build your Universal Windows Platform apps and submit them to the Windows Store.

In addition, starting this month, we will release previews of the Windows 10 SDK more often to our Windows Insiders. Our goal is to release a Windows 10 SDK preview that corresponds to OS flights delivered through the Windows 10 Insider Preview Fast Ring. As part of these preview releases, we will also release a matching version of the Windows 10 Mobile emulator. While we’ll do our best to align with the OS release schedule, it is possible that not every OS release will bring an updated SDK.

When running the latest SDK and emulator in your local development environment, your apps will be able to access the latest Windows capabilities and APIs available in the preview build. Each preview SDK release installs side by side of the official Windows 10 tooling for Visual Studio 2015. This allows you to install each preview release of the SDK and emulator with previously-installed SDKs and emulators on the Windows 10 SDK; allowing you to manage which OS version (released or preview) you want to develop and test your app against. If you want to try out the newest features and have the latest bug fixes delivered in a Windows Insider Preview release, this is for you – each release is a snapshot of work in progress, so expect functionality or APIs to be impacted and that final functionality may vary. As new releases happen, this blog will report which build each version works with, a change log of new APIs, major bugs fixed, and issues you can expect to encounter.

As always, you can download the latest Windows SDK and mobile emulator from the Windows 10 Developer Tools page.

Test existing apps for compatibility and delight new users by updating your app to Windows 10

Windows is committed to compatibility. The Windows compatibility team has been looking at user telemetry and reacting to feedback from Windows Insiders to ensure that existing apps work well with Windows 10. Windows 10 is designed to run Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 software programs. And yes, everyone’s favorite VB6 Runtime will continue to work, too. In the near future, the compat team will go more in-depth on this topic on Blogging Windows.

Your apps will continue to work on Windows and remain available in the Windows Store. We suggest testing to verify your apps perform as you intend on Windows 10. You should do this now with existing builds to catch any issues prior to launch.

And while you’re at it, this would be a great time to upgrade your apps to take advantage of Windows 10. Wondering what to do? Add in a feature or two that your users are requesting. The Windows Dev Center contains guidance such as design basics, design guidelines, and platform basics – examples of great starting points. Channel 9 has the Build 2015 sessions and Microsoft Virtual Academy, A Developer’s Guide to Windows 10, just a few of the resources at your fingertips. If you are having trouble finding content, we can assist you. Post your inquiry in the MSDN forums or send a tweet to @wpdev.

Universal Windows Platform Bridges update

At Build 2015, we announced the four Universal Windows Platform Bridges:

“Project Astoria” enables developers to bring their Android code to Windows

“Project Centennial” is for classic Windows platform code (e.g., .NET, Win32, etc.)

“Project Islandwood” allows developers to bring their iOS code to the Universal Windows Platform

“Project Westminster” enables developers to bring their website to the Windows Store.

Over the summer, we’ll share more about how to use each of the bridges, and go into more detail on how each bridge can be used for getting your app on to Universal Windows Platform and availability. “Project Westminster” is already available.