Microsoft Project Centennial was the codename for a Microsoft developer effort later known as the Desktop Bridge. It let developers package existing Windows desktop applications—such as Win32, .NET, Windows Forms, and COM apps—as apps for Windows 10, with the option to add modern Windows features or move parts of the software over time. Packaging an app did not automatically rewrite it as a native Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app.
What Project Centennial did
Centennial addressed a practical problem: developers wanted to distribute traditional Windows desktop software through the Windows app ecosystem without having to rebuild the entire application first. Microsoft’s 2016 description explained how desktop apps and games could be converted into .appx packages for installation and updates through the Windows Store or other distribution channels.
A packaged desktop app could also use selected UWP capabilities, including Live Tiles, push notifications, and local or roaming app data. Developers could add components such as App Services, Background Tasks, or a separate UWP XAML user interface. Microsoft presented this as an incremental route: package the existing app, enhance it, extend it with new components, migrate more functionality into the app container if appropriate, and potentially expand it to other Windows device categories.
That staged approach did not require an immediate, wholesale rewrite. Microsoft did caution that converting an app could require code changes in some cases.
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Project Centennial, Desktop Bridge, and today’s terminology
Microsoft introduced the Desktop Bridge in 2016, describing its Desktop App Converter and related tools as having previously been part of Project “Centennial.” A Microsoft Community Hub article says the Desktop Bridge launched on September 14, 2016, and that Project Centennial had become officially known as Desktop Bridge. The most useful historical phrasing is therefore Project Centennial, later known as Desktop Bridge.
In an August 25, 2026 Inside MSIX post, Microsoft Principal Software Engineer Howard Kapustein maps Centennial-style apps to RuntimeBehavior="packagedClassicApp": classic Win32 applications packaged with modern behaviors. That label describes an app model; it does not mean the application has become a Universal app.
How it differs from Universal apps and win32App
Microsoft’s current terminology distinguishes three package runtime behaviors that should not be treated as synonyms just because each can involve package identity.
| Runtime behavior | What it represents | Emphasis |
|---|---|---|
packagedClassicApp |
Centennial-style classic Win32 software packaged with modern behaviors. | Modernizing how a classic app is packaged and behaves. |
windowsApp |
A Universal app. | The Universal app model. |
win32App |
A separate model historically codenamed Win32alacarte. | Compatibility with existing Win32 assumptions. |
Kapustein summarizes the distinction as Centennial aiming to “Be a good Windows citizen,” while Win32alacarte focuses on “Compatibility.” This is his explanatory framing, rather than a formal product slogan. The models represent different tradeoffs, not successive versions of the same thing.
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No. Centennial and Desktop Bridge describe a historical approach to bringing existing desktop apps into the Windows app ecosystem; MSIX is a modern Windows app packaging format. The original Centennial material discussed .appx packaging and Windows 10 preview-era tools. Those historical setup instructions should not be treated as current MSIX installation steps.
Microsoft’s current MSIX Packaging Tool overview describes a tool for repackaging desktop applications as MSIX through a graphical interface or command line, including when source code is unavailable. It lists MSI, EXE, App-V 5.x, and custom-script inputs, and identifies the Microsoft Store, WinGet, and offline download as distribution routes. This is related modern tooling, but it does not make every present-day MSIX workflow identical to Project Centennial.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the name means for developers now
If you encounter “Project Centennial” in older documentation, read it as a reference to the Desktop Bridge-era effort to package classic Windows desktop apps and support gradual modernization. For current terminology, Microsoft’s August 2026 Inside MSIX discussion uses packagedClassicApp for the Centennial-style model. For current packaging-tool capabilities, consult Microsoft’s MSIX Packaging Tool documentation rather than relying on preview-era instructions.
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