New applications should not use this set of interfaces. These interfaces exist for backward compatibility with legacy applications. These interfaces will be unavailable in the future.

Introduction

Windows Vista provides a new mechanism and user interface for storing and retrieving information about people (contacts) who are important to the users of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Windows Mail (formerly Outlook Express).

Windows Contacts replaces Windows Address Book (WAB) as an API for extending the contacts functionality.

Documentation in the Windows Vista Software Development Kit (SDK) is provided for programmers interested in using this new API.

Developer Audience

The C++ class-based interface is designed for C/C++ programmers. Familiarity with Component Object Model (COM) is required, and familiarity with the Windows graphical user interface and message-driven architecture may be helpful.

Windows Contacts Documentation

This documentation is organized as shown below:

Overviews

About Windows Contacts introduces Windows Contacts.

Windows Contacts Schema describes the built-in schema to express and organize the properties that form contacts.

Programming Windows Contacts shows how you can extend applications, such as Windows Mail, using the Windows Contacts API.

Reference

Windows Contacts Reference provides information about the Windows Contacts API, using the C++ programming language and COM.

Related Topics

Windows Mail is an online communication tool supplied as part of Windows Vista. It is an important host application for Windows Contacts. For more information, see Windows Mail.