Windows 95: You Got It!

Getting prepared for the 32-bit application development trip

Tammy Steele

May 9, 1995

The pre-release version of Windows 95 has now shipped to Level 2 members of the Developer Network.

It comes with the merged Win32 Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing applications for Windows 95 and Windows NT. The pre-release Win32 SDK upgrades the current Win32 SDK, allowing developers to write to a single API and target multiple software and hardware platforms. Developers writing to the Win32 API can target Windows NT, Win32s, and Windows 95, as well as the Apple Macintosh platform (with the Microsoft Visual C++ 2.0 Cross-Development Edition for Macintosh).

The Windows 95 itinerary

So, your bags are packed and you're ready to go. Because you've been reading about your trip for so long, maybe it would be a good idea to review the travel plans.

First stop is beautiful downtown Win32. Next you'll visit the lovely OLE mass-transit system, with a brief encounter in Long Filename support and a stop at the Universal Naming Conventions studio tour. From there you'll move on to Simple Messaging API (MAPI) and finish with a spot of refreshment at the Windows NT 3.51 Toolbar and Grill.

As for guide books, let's start with the panoramic overview of your trip down Windows 95 Development Row (or would that be Chicago Memory Lane?), courtesy of back issues of Developer Network News, available in the Developer Network Development Library:

• "Windows 95 controls on Windows NT" by Tammy Steele, March/April 1995 (this article is also available in this online edition of the newspaper under "Features").

• "Getting your app ready for Chicago" by Robert Hess, September 1994

• "How to adapt an app for Chicago" by Tammy Steele, July 1994

• "Next stop: Chicago" by Tammy Steele, March 1994

• "Just what is an 'OLE application'?" by Kraig Brockschmidt, March 1994

(Although it's not available on the Library CD, members who've kept hard copies of back issues can also read "The Win32 story" by Tammy Steele, September 1993.)

Go to the library

These articles lay the groundwork for the development trip. Next, let's get out the binoculars and take a closer look at some of the technical article landmarks, also courtesy of the Developer Network Development Library:

• "Diving into the Requirements for the Windows 95 Logo" by Denise Shephard (A must read! Five stars for this one!)

• Nancy Winnick Cluts' series on Win32 common controls

• "Win32 Application Support for Plug and Play" by Lee Fisher

• "Generic: Anatomy of a Simple Win32 Application" by Robert Hess

• "Configuration Management and the Registry" by Kyle Marsh

• "Creating a Windows 95 Explorer-like Application" by Nancy Winnick Cluts

• "Using the Common Dialogs Under Windows 95" by Nancy Winnick Cluts

• "Developing Applications with OLE 2.0" by Kraig Brockschmidt

But wait! There's more! In the Microsoft Systems Journal section of the Development Library, you'll find 19—count 'em—articles on Windows 95. The Development Library also contains dozens of additional technical articles and newspaper articles to help you with your development. Simply search on "Windows 95" or "Chicago" and you'll be ready.

You'll take home more than memories from this trip. You'll have a great Win32-based application that exploits the capabilities of Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51, and a Windows 95 logo to boot.

Buen viaje!

By day, Tammy Steele is a technical evangelist in the Developer Relations Group, focusing on Windows 95. At night, she becomes "Pammy Speel," Microsoft spokesperson and cabaret singer/travel guide.