Windows 7 Developer Guide
Published October 2008
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ABSTRACT 1
ABSTRACT 1
INTRODUCTION 1
INTRODUCTION 1
Solid Foundation 1
Richer Application Experiences 2
The Best of Windows and the Web 2
SOLID FOUNDATION 2
SOLID FOUNDATION 2
Compatibility and Reliability 3
Applications 3
Drivers 3
Devices 3
Reliability Access Monitor 3
Management and Deployment 4
Windows PowerShell 2.0 4
Windows Installer 5
Security 6
Windows Filtering Platform 6
User Account Control 7
Performance 7
Building Power-Efficient Applications 7
Service Control Manager 8
Windows Troubleshooting Platform 8
Documents and Document Peripherals 9
Open Packaging Conventions 10
XPS Documents 10
Accessibility and Global Support 11
Windows Automation 12
Accessibility Support Tools 12
Improved Multi-Language User Interface Support and Linguistic Services 12
RICHER APPLICATION EXPERIENCES 13
RICHER APPLICATION EXPERIENCES 13
Intuitive User Experience 13
Multi-Touch Gestures, and Manipulation and Inertia APIs 13
Single-Finger Panning 14
Raw Touch Input Data 14
Handwriting and Ink 15
Math Recognition 15
Pen Input Diagramming 16
Handwriting with Personalized Custom Dictionary 16
The Desktop Experience 17
Jump Lists—Getting Users into Your Application Quickly 18
Enhanced Taskbar 19
Gadgets Platform 20
Scenic Ribbon 20
Animation 21
Managing Files and Data 22
Libraries 22
File Formats and Data Stores 23
High-Fidelity Graphics with DirectX 24
Direct2D 25
DirectWrite 26
Windows Imaging Component 26
Direct3D 11 26
Direct3D 10 improvements 27
DirectX/GDI Interoperability 28
Media Platform 28
Format Support 28
Hardware Devices 28
Simplified Programming Model 29
Platform Improvements 29
Devices 30
Device Experience Platform 30
THE BEST OF WINDOWS AND THE WEB 31
THE BEST OF WINDOWS AND THE WEB 31
Services 31
Windows Web Services 31
Distributed Routing Table 32
Windows BranchCache™ 32
Windows Connectivity Platform 32
Federated Search 33
Sensor Platform 34
Internet Explorer 8 35
ABSTRACT
Building applications that are easy to use, visually appealing, and offer high performance is a challenge that developers face every day. Innovative applications can greatly improve the user experience, empowering companies to differentiate their services and solutions. However, developers are increasingly asked to do more in less time, while also optimizing the power and performance requirements of their applications.
The Windows 7 platform makes it easy for developers to create engaging, user-friendly applications by providing familiar tools and rich development features that allow them to take advantage of the latest PC capabilities.
INTRODUCTION
Developing software has never been more exciting. The world has never been more connected, interactive and mobile. User experiences and content have never had higher fidelity. Advances in connectivity, mobility, natural interfaces, graphics and media are enabling new scenarios and opportunities for developers. At the same time, expectations have never been higher for performance, flexibility and interoperability. A world-class developer platform must provide a flexible and complete foundation for developers and their solutions, empowering them to build applications that set them apart from the competition while maximizing their investments.
The Windows® 7 operating system is the essential platform for developers. Listening to our customers, looking ahead to the scenarios of tomorrow, and building on the capabilities of Windows Vista®, Microsoft offers developers a wide variety of choices and capabilities within the Windows developer platform, while empowering developers to deliver creative solutions that are mobile-aware, connected, high-fidelity, and provide a highly intuitive user experience. Most importantly, developer platform fundamentals such as security, performance, and compatibility are top priorities in Window 7.
This guide summarizes the key developer advances in each of the following three areas:
Solid Foundation
Great user experiences start with a solid foundation. Windows 7 delivers a solid development platform and innovative tools that give you more options, increased application compatibility, better performance, and sophisticated document support. This results in a simple, more reliable environment for your applications and a familiar, intuitive one for your users.
We’ve kept the user interface consistent, predictable and easy to use, while adding multi-touch support, scrolling, and other intuitive interaction features that take advantage of the latest PC and mobile device capabilities. With Windows 7, developers have the power to build the right user experiences for their applications.
Richer Application Experiences
Windows 7 enables developers to build applications today that will run on the PCs of tomorrow. Service-enabled software and devices, such as mobile phones, portable media players, and digital cameras, demand constant connectivity and advanced applications. Windows 7 delivers a platform for both, making it easy for developers to take advantage of the functionality and features of next generation hardware, while ensuring that users are always on, and always connected.
The Best of Windows and the Web
With Windows 7, it’s easy to get connected and stay connected. Windows networking offers developers options for better caching and sharing of data to improve network performance. Network diagnostics in Windows 7 give developers relevant information for monitoring network issues. Internet Explorer™ 8 is the essential platform for building fast, rich Web experiences. Whether the goal is to connect devices, connect to a network, or connect to the Internet, Windows 7 provides an enhanced platform.
SOLID FOUNDATION
Windows 7 provides a highly productive developer platform and tools that deliver on core operating system fundamentals. Windows 7 builds upon the Windows Vista platform, giving developers the power to build applications that are compatible with both platforms while limiting application compatibility issues. Windows 7 dramatically improves performance and power management so that you can create applications that optimize the mobile experience. As a result, your applications will be more visually appealing, easier to create, and support a wider range of international standards. Advances have also been made in global support, accessibility, and application deployment.
Compatibility and Reliability
Windows 7 is designed to run on the same hardware as Windows Vista, and to be compatible with applications and device drivers that work with Windows Vista.
Windows 7 is the most reliable version of Windows yet. Designed on an improved technology foundation, Windows 7 allows users to reliably start up, shut down, or hibernate their computers without having to worry about losing valuable work. Furthermore, Windows 7 makes it easier than ever to back up and restore data to network drives or DVDs. Windows 7 also improves upon print reliability and performance.
Applications
To help ensure compatibility, Windows 7 has been designed in close partnership with software vendors and PC manufacturers. Early engagement has enabled Microsoft to build a comprehensive list of the most widely used applications. Automated testing cycles ensure that compatibility issues are detected and fixed early in the development cycle.
Drivers
The Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Version 3.0 provides the build environment, tools, documentation, and samples that developers need to create quality drivers for Windows. The WDK 3.0 supports static source code analysis, using PREfast to detect certain classes of C and C++ coding errors. PREfast includes a specialized driver component, known as PREfast for Drivers (PFD), which detects errors in kernel-mode driver code. In addition, the WDK has been enhanced by annotating all kernel header files for PFD support. New sample drivers have been added that demonstrate new technologies, and the documentation has been expanded.
Windows 7 supports a large variety of software and hardware products designed to integrate seamlessly with the platform. Drivers that were created for Windows Vista should not require updating to run correctly in Windows 7.
Devices
Windows 7 provides flexible, robust support for a wide variety of applications and devices, including music players, storage devices, mobile phones, and other types of connected devices. Automatic testing of these devices is used to ensure that compatibility issues are fixed early in the development cycle.
Reliability Access Monitor
Reliability Analysis Component is an in-box agent that provides detailed customer experience information on system usage and reliability. This information is exposed through a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) interface, making it available for consumption by Portable Readers Systems. By exposing Reliability Analysis Component through a WMI interface, developers can monitor and analyze their applications, increasing reliability and performance,
Windows 7 uses the built-in Reliability Analysis Component to calculate a reliability index which provides information about your overall system usage and stability over time. Reliability Analysis Component also keeps track of any important changes to the system that are likely to have an impact on stability, such as Windows updates and application installations. You can use the Reliability Monitor snap-in to see trends in your system's reliability index correlated with these potentially destabilizing events, making it easy to trace a reliability change directly to a particular event.
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