Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Application Quality Cookbook

The Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Application Quality Cookbook familiarizes application developers with how to verify the compatibility of their applications with the new operating system and provides an overview of the few known application compatibility issues in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It also points out differences in performance, reliability, and usability, and provides links to detailed white papers and other developer guidance.

Overview

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 introduce the latest operating system technology and software development platform for use by application developers and enterprises worldwide. As part of further enhancing the security, reliability, performance, and user experience of Windows, many new features have been introduced, existing features have been improved, and some features have been removed.

While Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are highly compatible with most of their respective applications written for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and their service packs, some compatibility breaks are inevitable due to innovations, security tightening, and increased reliability. Overall, the compatibility of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with existing applications is high.

This document builds on the concepts embodied in the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility Cookbook. (This resource may not be available in some languages and countries/regions.) Like it, this document provides you with the means to become familiar with how to verify the compatibility of your applications with the new operating system and provides an overview of the few known application incompatibility issues in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. But more than that, it also points out differences in performance, reliability, and usability, and provides links to detailed white papers and other developer guidance.

In addition, Microsoft is investing in several new and enhanced features and tools to enable you to build higher quality applications and to troubleshoot when applications do not function properly on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Included among these tools are instructions for how to qualify your client and server applications for participating in the Windows Logo Program.

This Cookbook contains more than three dozen topics divided into three major sections:

• Compatibility (both General and Server-specific)
• New Features and Enhancements
• Tools, Best Practices, and Guidance

We invite you to check out these topics to learn how to optimize your application to take advantage of what Windows 7 has to offer.

We take your suggestions for improvements to this document seriously.