MIDI Enhancements in Windows 10

Recently Pete Brown from Microsoft posted a very informative blog post about MIDI Enhancements in Windows 10. 

The blog post covers a number of topics including 

• UWP MIDI Basics – using MIDI in Windows Store apps
• New Bluetooth LE MIDI support in Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• The Win32 wrapper for UWP MIDI (making the API accessible to desktop apps)
• MIDI Helper libraries for C# and PowerShell

"We're happy to see Microsoft supporting the Bluetooth MIDI spec and exposing it to Windows developers through a simplified API. Using the new Win32 wrapper for the UWP MIDI API, we were able to prototype Bluetooth MIDI support very quickly.   At Cakewalk we're looking ahead to support wireless peripherals, so this is a very welcome addition from Microsoft."

by Noel Borthwick, CTO, Cakewalk

There is also a nice explanation in Pete's article of how RPNs and NRPNs work and their data structure. 

With the release of Windows 10, all three of the major operating system companies (Apple, Google and Microsoft) have all developed support for the MIDI Manufacturers Association standard for MIDI over Bluetooth Low Energy that can be found in the specs section of this site and is available for download by MIDI Association members at no charge.