Ah, MAUI. The grand unification theory of .NET UI development.

How did we get here?……

🌅 The Dawn of Time: Mono (2004)

💡 What Was Mono?

Before .NET was truly cross-platform, Microsoft kept .NET development firmly locked inside Windows.

That didn’t sit well with Miguel de Icaza, an open-source warrior (weenie?) who thought, “Hey, what if .NET could run on Linux and macOS?”

And thus, Mono was born—a project aimed at making .NET applications work everywhere.

• Who made it? Miguel de Icaza and the Mono team at Ximian (later Novell, later Xamarin, later Microsoft).

• Why did it exist? Because cross-platform .NET wasn’t a thing yet.

• What could you build? Console apps, desktop apps (with GTK#), and later, mobile apps.

🛠️ Mono Code Sample

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Hello from Mono!");
    }
}

Run this on Linux, and boom! Cross-platform C# in 2004. Revolutionary!

It might not seem exciting now.. but back then Cross- Platform was tricky and complicated… much more than now…

🎇 The Silverlight & Moonlight Saga (2007–2012)

💡 What Was Silverlight?

Microsoft, in a bid to take on Adobe Flash (yeah, remember Flash?), created Silverlight—a browser plugin for rich web apps using .NET and XAML.

It was like WPF but… Ran in a browser! (great idea? or insane? you decide.. :) ).

• Who made it? Microsoft.

• Why did it exist? To compete with Flash. Spoiler: It lost.

• What could you build? Interactive web apps with .NET.

NOTE: The code basially ran as an AxctiveX plugin… Once ActiveX lost favor due to security issues with compiled code running on a browser… Silverlight kind of died with it..

💡 What Was Moonlight?

Since Silverlight was Windows-only, the Mono team created Moonlight, a Linux-compatible version. It almost worked!

• Who made it? Mono/Ximian team.

• Why did it exist? Because Linux users also wanted fancy web apps.

• What happened? Microsoft lost interest in Silverlight, and Moonlight died with it.

🌑 Silverlight/Moonlight Code Sample

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

<UserControl x:Class="SilverlightApp.MainPage"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
    <Grid>
        <TextBlock Text="Hello, Silverlight!" />
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Silverlight was actually pretty cool, but then HTML5 happened, and Microsoft pulled the plug. RIP Silverlight (2007–2012).

📱 The Rise of Xamarin (2011–2020)

💡 What Was Xamarin?

After Silverlight’s fall, the Mono team pivoted to mobile development. Enter Xamarin, which allowed developers to build native iOS and Android apps using C#.

• Who made it? The Mono team, now called Xamarin.

• Why did it exist? Because writing the same app three times (Objective-C, Java, and C#) was torture.

• What could you build? iOS, Android, and later UWP apps.

🛠️ Xamarin Code Sample

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

using Xamarin.Forms;

public class App : Application
{
    public App()
    {
        MainPage = new ContentPage
        {
            Content = new Label
            {
                Text = "Hello, Xamarin!",
                VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
                HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
            }
        };
    }
}

Fun fact: Xamarin.Forms was originally a separate thing, but people liked it enough that Microsoft turned it into MAUI.

🔥 Enter .NET MAUI (2021–Present)

💡 What Is MAUI?

Microsoft, tired of juggling WPF, UWP, Xamarin, and whatever Silverlight was, decided to merge everything into one framework: .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI).

• Who made it? Microsoft.

• Why does it exist? To unify Xamarin and .NET UI development under one framework.

• What can you build? iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Blazor hybrid apps.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🛠️ .NET MAUI Code Sample

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

using Microsoft.Maui.Controls;

public class App : Application
{
    public App()
    {
        MainPage = new ContentPage
        {
            Content = new Label
            {
                Text = "Hello, .NET MAUI!",
                VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
                HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Center,
            }
        };
    }
}

📊 Evolution Table: Mono → Xamarin → MAUI