Build rich client applications with significantly enhanced user experiences for advanced data visualization and analysis.

• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) provides a unified framework for building applications and high fidelity experiences in Windows Vista that blend together application UI, documents, and media content, while exploiting the full power of the computer. 
• Use a single WPF programming model to write code once, and deploy it as a stand-alone installed app or in a browser.
• XAML is a tools-supported, XML-based user interface design language that maps XML markup tags to objects in the .NET Framework, enabling designers and developers to collaborate on delivering superior user experiences.
• XML Paper Specification is a cross platform, open XML document format that helps customers effortlessly create, share, print and archive paginated documents.

Echo the look of the Windows Vista user interface with Aero for native development of client applications.

• Aero [Windows Vista Only] enables native development of rich-client applications that echo the look of the Windows Vista user interface, making your applications feel modern and appealing.
• Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines [Windows Vista Only] and built-in controls (such as Command Link and Task Dialog) give applications a fresh look while improving productivity with a consistent and compelling look and feel.
• The extensible Common File Dialog [Windows Vista Only] lets Windows applications directly integrate Windows Explorer’s Search and Organize capabilities.
• Live Icons [Windows Vista Only] replace and extend the concept of thumbnails in previous versions of Windows. Live icons provide developers with a way to provide visual information about the data their applications contain.

Enable users to interact with applications in more natural ways such as ink and speech support.

• Windows Sidebar and Windows SideShow [Windows Vista Only] gadgets are easily developed, mini-applications that developers can create to provide value to users even when the application isn’t running. 
• Integrated Speech [Windows Vista Only] capabilities offer new ways for users to interact with applications.
• Rich Preview [Windows Vista Only] enables developers to provide users with a read-only preview of data in custom file formats that is integrated in Windows Explorer and the Common File Dialog.
• Improved ink & pen support [Windows Vista Only] make it easier to build applications with ink-driven input, whether you program in native C++, managed, .NET Framework languages, or in WPF.

Create enhanced realism in multimedia applications and advanced data visualization.

• DirectX 10 [Windows Vista Only] takes better advantage of the graphics capabilities of hardware, enabling a new level for performance and realism in games and multimedia applications.

 Build on Existing Investments.

• Developers with managed code development experience can bring their skills forward to develop for the Windows Presentation Foundation or Windows Forms.

Simplify how you create robust communications  and build service-oriented architectures.

• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) provides a unified framework for rapidly building service-oriented applications makes it easy to build and consume secure, reliable, and transacted Web services.
• Single programming model unifies functionality found in ASMX, WSE, remoting, COM+, and MSMQ. Developers need to learn only one programming model.
• By default, WCF services speak standard WS-* protocols when sending and receiving messages for maximum interoperability.
• Interoperable security, reliable messaging, and transaction support are provided through WS-* implementations.
• Reliable messaging guarantees “in order” and “exactly once” delivery.
• Queued messaging is provided by the MSMQ infrastructure.
• Transaction support enables reliable execution or rollback of multi-step operations.
• Hosting model independence enables WCF code to run in IIS, as well as in any managed code application, such as ASP.NET, EXEs, NT Services, WinForms, and others.

Put users in touch with their data by using enhanced desktop search technologies. Simplify the ways that users store and retrieve data.

• Integrated Search enables developers to create file formats can expose metadata to the indexer through Property Handlers and full-text content by implementing a search filter.
• Developers can define their own metadata to make data generated by their applications more searchable and accessible to users.  File format providers can provide support for metadata and consumers can read and write this metadata. 
• The Sync Center [Windows Vista Only] gives users one place where they can manage data synchronization between their solutions, devices, and network servers.   This simplifies the need to include dedicated synchronization UI in every application.

Discover and share data between computers and nearby devices.

• Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) provides server-less name publication and resolution over both local networks and the Internet removing the need for centralized servers and making it easier to connect applications.
• Peer-to-Peer Collaboration Infrastructure enables applications to share data and communicate among ad-hoc peer networks.
• People Near Me [Windows Vista Only] supports the publishing of information needed to establish application sessions so that developers can make it easy for users to find and interact  with others nearby.

Share information easily using RSS.

• Support for all common RSS formats including RSS 1.0, 2.0 and Atom 0.3.
• Common RSS Feed List gives application developers access to the list of feeds to which the user is subscribed.
• Common RSS Data Store is a common data store that provides a single location where applications can access any content that has been downloaded to the PC via RSS.
• RSS Platform Sync Engine automatically downloads data and files (enclosures) for use by any application using idle bandwidth when possible. 
• Simple List Extensions extend RSS to provides a better experience in sorting and filtering data received in an RSS feed and publishing lists of content.

Model and coordinate complex business processes.

• Windows Workflow Foundation Enables developers to model a business process to provide transparency into the model and support both system and human workflow.
• Workflow designers can be used within Visual Studio or rehosted within 3^rd-party applications.
• Declarative authoring provides the ability to utilize higher-level tools to create and edit the model.
• Control flow activities are provided to support human workflow which may be iterative and involve fan out and complex conditions.
• Developers can create custom activities or extend the workflow runtime through pluggable services.
• Activities can be easily created to for system workflows that interface with back end computer systems through web services or custom transports.

Develop, test, deploy, and manage Web applications on a unified platform with IIS7

• Deep integration of IIS7 and ASP.NET results in a single, unified configuration system, an integrated request processing runtime and extensibility model, and a vastly improved diagnostics and troubleshooting experience.  
• With IIS7 developers can develop and test Web applications on Windows Vista with the same Web serving technology shipping in Windows Server 2008, eliminating potential compatibility and deployment issues.
• IIS7 provides both Win32 and .NET Framework extensibility APIs, which make it easy to create seamless Web server extensions that enable all new levels of request processing and administration tool customization.