Appendix C
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
This appendix gives you the information you need to know about developing applications for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, and how you can use new Windows features from .NET applications. This chapter does not cover features useful for a Windows Vista user or a Windows Server 2008 administrator, but features important for developers.
If your applications are not targeting Windows Vista alone, you should be aware that while WPF, WCF, WF, and LINQ are also available for Windows XP, this is not the case with the topics covered here. If you’re still targeting Windows XP, you still should be aware of issues running your applications on Windows Vista and what you should pay attention to. In that case, you should have a special focus on user account control and directory changes.
The topics covered in this appendix are:
- Vista Bridge
- User account control
- Directory structure
- New controls and dialogs
- Search
Vista Bridge
With the release of .NET 3.5, many new Windows API calls available with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are not available from the .NET Framework. However, the Windows SDK contains a sample with the name Vista Bridge that wraps native API calls to make them available from a .NET library. You can use this library within your Windows Forms or WPF applications.
After installing the Windows SDK, you can find the Vista Bridge sample in the .zip file <program files>\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0\Samples\CrossTechnologySamples.zip ...
