The Developer's Guide to the Windows 7 Galaxy
John Bristowe
Like some of you, I have taken the plunge and installed Windows 7 on my primary machine. A bold move? Perhaps. But I have to say that I really like what I’ve experienced these past few days since I - as we like to say - “made the move to 7”. And like some of you, I’ve been interested in what this new platform has in store for me as a developer. New platforms - it seems - are akin to episode cliffhangers from television shows of the 1960’s:
Will our developer survive learning this new set of APIs? Will he like what he sees? Or, will he lose himself in the documentation? Tune in next week for an exciting episode of our continuing series…
Understandably, with every new platform, there’s a need for documentation to understand what’s new and how to best take advantage of the feature set. For developers looking at Windows 7, this is where the Windows 7 Developer Guide comes in. You can think of it like the “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” except that it’s for developers wanting to learn more about Windows 7. Oh, and in case you were wondering, you won’t find the term, “Don’t Panic” listed in its pages. Published in October 2008, the Windows 7 Developer Guide is a 44-page document of “developer goodness”. It highlights every nook and cranny of Windows 7 from a developer’s perspective. In fact, I was somewhat inspired to build something (anything) simply reading through it.
Make sure that in addition to downloading and installing Windows 7, you take the time to check out the Windows 7 Developer Guide. It’s well worth the read.