Can I use Xamarin to develop windows and mac application in c#?

Question

I have never worked with mac operating system. I want to develop an application which can run on Mac and Windows, can I use Xamarin to develop the application?

What does Xamarin.Forms does?

I have search on the web but couldn't find an answer. Please help!

Answer 1

Xamarin.Forms has been updated since the question was asked so I thought I add the following:

Using Xamarin.Forms, you can now create cross-platform apps that target the following platforms all using the same code:

UWP

This is ideal for creating apps for Windows 10 and if you plan to distribute them either through the Store or by sideloading. It's fast but lacks a lot of APIs and features and seems like Microsoft has a lot of work to do.

WPF

Yes, using XF you can build for WPF as well but it's still in preview (at the time of writing) so a lot of things don't work yet (for example ListView Headers)

iOS

Build native apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod

Android

Build native apps for devices running Android

macOS

The same app can also run on macOS but it is still in preview (at the time of writing)

Tizen

It is now possible to build for smartphones, watches and TVs running Samsung Tizen using XF.

Linux

How nice it is that I can run the same Windows/iOS/macOS/Android app on Linux too! I have not tested it personally myself yet

Conclusion:

Using Xamarin.Forms you can target many platforms at the same time using the same code and if you need to access platform-specific features you can still do that (for example by DependencyService)

Answer 2

Xamarin Forms:

"Build native UIs for iOS, Android and Windows Phone from a single, shared C# codebase"

You can still implement Mac and Windows using Xamarin using the same Portable class library. You just need to build your own UI for Mac and Windows.

More Info on portable class libraries: Cross-Platform Development with the Portable Class Library