The following sections provide introductory information to help you start developing drivers for Microsoft Windows operating systems:

Important  In conformance with Microsoft support policy, Microsoft is removing Microsoft Windows 2000 from its list of supported installation platforms for the Windows Driver Kit (WDK). The WDK continues to provide a Windows 2000 build environment for the development of drivers targeting Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 moved from Mainstream to Extended Support in June 2005 (as defined in the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy). The Extended Support phase includes security updates and paid support only; it does not provide support for design changes or new product features. As a result, build tools and platform or library support is limited to Windows XP SP2 and later versions of Windows.

The complete list of install-on platforms for the WDK consists of: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows XP SP2. The complete list of build-for platforms consists of: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows XP SP2, and Windows 2000 SP4.

Customers that require Windows 2000 as an installation platform can download the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Driver Development Kit (DDK) at no cost from the Windows Hardware Developer Central Web site.