The Microsoft Windows application programming interface (API) enables applications to exploit the power of Microsoft Windows. Using this API, you can develop applications that run successfully on all versions of Windows while taking advantage of the features and capabilities unique to each version. (Note that this was formerly called the Win32 API. The name Windows API more accurately reflects its roots in 16-bit Windows and its support on 64-bit Windows.)

Differences in the implementation of the programming elements depend on the capabilities of the underlying operating system. These differences are noted in the documentation for the element.

The Windows API consists of the following functional categories:

• Administration and Management
• Diagnostics
• Graphics and Multimedia
• Networking
• Security
• System Services
• Windows User Interface

Build date: 5/7/2009