App Compat Generic

The OEM Ready Program is designed to improve the quality of the customer experiece when running OEM supplied applications on the Windows Vista platform. 

Windows OEMs will start requiring that applications they ship with their new machines pass the new OEM Ready or the existing Certified for Windows Vista logo program starting August, 2008.

Here is a link to the technical overview for how a developer can test and achieve the Windows Vista OEM Ready qualification, including the steps you can take now ensure your applications qualify for this new program. Read this document first!  

Here is a new test suite that you can download and run against your applications today to ensure they meet the new OEM Ready requirements.

Here is the email alias to get answers to any of your technical questions on the OEM Ready program.  Ask away, we know you have questions!

Here is the email alias to send your feedback on the Test Tool - let us know what you think!

Thanks...

The OEM Ready Team

Windows Server 2008 data for Developer Community:

• Windows Server 2008 Developer Center on MSDN 
• Application Compatibility Cookbook - Get the details on how to verify the compatibility of your applications with Windows Server 2008. This document is now available for download.

Windows Server 2008 application compatibility series

This set of technical material covers data provided in Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility Readiness Labs. These are 4 day workshops covering training around compatibility with Windows Server 2008 and hands on testing of applications while interacting with Microsoft’s best application compatibility consultants for debugging, troubleshooting and design guidance.

• Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility Overview
• IIS7
• Active Directory
• MMC 3.0
• Failover Cluster
• Server Roles
• Server Core
• Windows Firewall: Forthcoming...

Videos

How To Videos – Windows Server 2008:

We dive back into Transactional NTFS and look at how you can use it with WCF to build powerful transactional capabilities into a service-based system.

Additional Technical Data

• Windows Server 2008 Developer Center - This site includes access to Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Beta, information of developing federation-aware applications, the Developer Training Kit and other helpful resources for Windows Server 2008 Developers.
• Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility and Certification Forum - Forum for developers to discuss Windows Server 2008 software certification and application compatibility.
• Windows Server 2008 Developer Training Kit - The Windows Server 2008 Developer Training Kit includes a set of hands-on-labs and presentations for technologies such as IIS7, Management, WCF, WF, Windows CardSpace, Windows PowerShell, Virtualization and the Transactional File System (TxF).
• Windows Server 2008 Developer Story - Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Developer Story includes content for developers, and other technology experts and managers interested in an in-depth exploration of some of the new and extended features in Windows Server 2008.
• Top 7 Ways to Light Your App - Whether you are building Web applications or writing core server-based system services, Windows Server® 2008 provides many new features that you can leverage to build more secure, flexible, and innovative applications.

Logo and Certification:

Innovate on Windows Server 2008 - Windows Server 2008 Logo Program. Step-by-step process guides and development resources to help you meet the technical bars for the Certified for Windows Server 2008 logo or the Works with Windows Server 2008 designation.

MSDN Library - Resource for developers using Microsoft tools, products, and technologies, containing technical programming information, sample code, documentation, technical articles, and reference guides.

• Learn WS08 - Whether you are a seasoned developer or just getting started with this technology, this page will direct you to content that will answer your question or help you solve a problem.
• Windows Server 2008 Troubleshooting and Support -  Ask expert online and assistant support. 
• WS08 Community - Quickly find the information you need with help from the community of peers on MSDN and elsewhere.

Windows Server Articles introduced in November 2007:

• Active Directory Federation Services
• Active Directory Lightweight Services
• Windows Authorization Manager

This document details the top ten issues to avoid when developing applications for Windows Server 2008.  Download here.

Participate in the Windows Server Software Logo Program Online Forum where you can chat with other developers, post questions, and discuss technical topics, problems, and suggestions.

This forum is monitored by Microsoft staff who can answer both business and technical questions.

Everything related to Windows Vista Application compatability has now moved from this site to MSDN .

Developers should go here for the Windows Vista/Longhorn Server Cookbook, the Windows Vista Hands on Lab, logo programs, white papers, videos, etc...

Come and learn what others are blogging about Application Compatability on Windows Vista.  You might also find that you have something useful to contribute as well. Either way this is the place that the community of developers and ISV's are going to share information about getting their applications ready on Windows Vista.

Microsoft has created a new web site which lists applications which are compatible on Windows Vista.  You will find a list of applications which have taken advantage of the Windows Logo program as well as those that the ISV claims are ready for Windows Vista.  There is also a section of community contributed content which allows visitors to list applications and communicate their readiness status on Windows Vista.   

www.WindowsVista.com/AppReadiness

What is the program?

The Windows Easy Transfer Files and Settings ISV Program is a way for you to engage with Microsoft and participate in crafting future releases of Windows Easy Transfer. Window Easy Transfer eases the pain of upgrading to a new Windows Vista PC by offering users a simple and easy way transfer important files and settings from their old to new PC. The tool migrates both operating system and application settings and currently supports only a limited number of application settings. The goal of this program is to expand the list of application settings supported.

Why is this program important?

The software market is highly competitive and customers have many solutions from which to choose – your competitor’s software may even come pre-installed on your customer’s new PC. Adding support for your applications to Windows Easy Transfer gives your customers one more reason to make sure they stick with you after their upgrade to their new PC is complete. With Windows Easy Transfer your customers won’t have to worry about manually reconfiguring your program to work the way it did on their old PC – everything that they have become accustomed to is automatically recreated. They will be up and running in no time.

Hurry, space is limited for our next release!

Windows Easy Transfer is taking submissions on a first come, first serve basis for our next release. Be sure to sign-up today as space is limited to the first 100 applications submitted.

How to join

Simply complete the Windows Easy Transfer ISV Program Participation Request, which is included in the Windows Easy Transfer Data and Settings ISV Program document, and submit the form to Microsoft. Once we receive your request, we will contact you regarding next steps.

For developers who want to create connected applications with visually appealing and highly-differentiated user experiences, Windows Vista provides the most productive, secure and reliable platform.  Developers can take advantage of the .NET Framework for rapidly building connected and secure applications or websites, leverage native Windows APIs for additional functionality and performance or freely mix between the two models.

This one-day instructor-led clinic and hands-on lab for developers introduces students to high-level information and facilitated discovery on the Microsoft Windows Vista platform, maintaining and enhancing their productivity and driving them to further study and adoption of Windows Vista as their preferred application development platform.

Event Details:

In our desire to bring you a set of tools to help with application development, we’ve found a very helpful registry tool. The ISV Settings Manager (ISM) is a tool built by The Technical Committee to assist developers in making correct registry settings for their applications on Windows XP and Vista.

Please follow the link to get started. http://www.thetc.org/Downloads.html

Port 25 is a community site for everything open source related at Microsoft.  You will find interesting blogs about diverse open source subjects as well as interviews and other related links.  Windows Vista app compat for open source issues is also addressed on this site.

Go to the MSDN site where the Microsoft experts on Windows Vista app compat blog.  These engineers have been working with ISV's around the world to get their applications running well on Windows Vista.  Many questions surrounding some of the common Vista app compat issues, and some not so common, are addressed here.