What should programmers know when upgrading from XP / Vista to Windows 7?

Question

I have not used Windows Vista. I knew that many APIs were changed / deprecated in Vista, so programs must be fixed or configured to run in XP compatibility mode.

So what should a Windows programmer know when upgrading from XP / Vista to Windows 7?

Answer 1

For starters, and if history has taught us anything, don’t rely on Betas or CTP, especially on the earlier ones (I believe that the date of sending Windows 7 is still in 2010).

Having said that, I believe that Windows 7 uses a similar kernel for the Windows 2008 Server and Windows Vista SP 1 kernels, as well as for the same (or similar) security models. Probably the same applies to the requirements of the driver, but it's too early to say.

At this early stage, all you can do is find out if your application is being deployed, installed and running under the beta version of Windows 7. If you have already updated your application to meet the restrictions set in Windows Vista, I would say that you are likely to be safe.

If you port the application from earlier versions of Windows (XP or earlier versions), then I would aim to support Vista first (process / maintain security model, etc.).

With luck, minor changes may be required to upgrade to Windows 7, but in fact you will need to take a look at Windows 7 closer to 2010.

At this point, we could see the .NET Framework 4.0 by 2010, so if your application is a .Net application, you may need to upgrade to 4.0 to take advantage of the new language features.

Edit: I almost forgot about it - (1) a technical development document for Windows 7! If you are curious about change, it has a pretty deep feeling for it.

Some interesting points / new features include:

"Windows 7 is designed to run on the same hardware as Windows Vista, and is compatible with applications and device drivers that work with Windows Vista."

"In Windows BranchCache, clients can retrieve data from other clients in their own branch that have already downloaded data, instead of retrieving data through remote servers."

"Based on the Sensor platform, the Windows APIs are a new feature in Windows 7 that allows application developers to access the physical location of users."

Here (2) the main page .

[(1) http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=Win7DeveloperGuide&ReleaseId=1702 ]
[(2) http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Win7DeveloperGuide ]

Answer 2

I think it's too early to know for sure, but I believe that the API will only have minor changes from Vista to Windows 7. I expect that if your program runs on Vista, you have nothing to worry about.

There will most likely be a new API in Windows 7 that you could use, but a few APIs that were available in Vista that are no longer available.

XP for Vista was the main transition to the API, as from 98 to NT, but the changes between NT and Windows 2000, for example, were much smaller.

Answer 3

In accordance with this, a new API has appeared for the new functionality of the right-click taskbar. For example, access to the latest files.

Answer 4

I think the first thing I look at when Windows 7 programs will be Multitouch can help improve usability and maybe help port programs to mobile phones such as the iPhone.

Answer 5

At the PDC back in October, they had a bunch of programming sessions for Windows 7. One of them, which I thought was a nice general conceptual session, was Windows 7: Design Principles for Windows 7 . You can view the entire list of Windows 7 related sessions here.

Answer 6

One thing that bit me from XP to Vista was setting up some things in the registry, now I need a higher permission level, Ie my application configures some file extensions / program associations using a method that I have been using for many years. This does not work as a regular user (at least not around the world) and requires the privilege of poweruser / administrator, I have not yet found a way to at least allow it for the current user.

Also, the old WinHelp is removed (good).

The “Documents and Settings” folders were transferred to the “users” (well, that should have been so from the very beginning!), But the CSIDL codes (which you should use to specify special folders) are the same.

Scan web folders were deprecated in XP, they may disappear.

New features / formats for files with icons.

Answer 7

Since Windows 7 is still in the Beta phase, you are not 100% sure what you will find with a stable release. However, Microsoft has published a very well-documented site for early Windows 7 developers. Here you can find many things related to the new APIs, as well as some examples and news from the development team. Another important fact you should consider is the existence of the .NET Framework. Among its goals is to give you an abstraction level in the system below, so you can usually run a .NET application on Windows XP or Windows Vista without having to interact with a low-level API.

Answer 8

If you are not a driver developer, use a platform-independent platform, a graphical tool library, without worrying about you implementing the material. Personally, I would prefer something like Qt or Java, but I think the API.Net will also remain compatible.