Igor Delovski Board

[delovski]

FindFirstFile behaves differently on Vista

"The api FindFirstFile returns different error code when the network is
disabled on XP and Vista. On XP  we get a error code:

ERROR_NETWORK_UNREACHABLE  1231

and on Vista we get

ERROR_BAD_NETPATH 53"

[delovski]

SHBrowseForFolder fails in Windows Vista

"The SHBrowseForFolder() function with BROWSEFORPRINTER flag
returns NULL in Vista."

[delovski]

msdn: GDI+ Flat API

"Microsoft Windows GDI+ exposes a flat API that consists of about 600
functions, which are implemented in Gdiplus.dll and declared in Gdiplusflat.h."

[delovski]

RC: If you have to ask, you're probably doing something wrong

"If you're nesting windows more than 50 levels deep or nesting menus more
than 25 levels deep or creating a dialog box with more than 65535 controls,
or nesting tree-view items more than 255 levels deep, then your user interface
design is in serious need of rethought, because you just created a usability
nightmare."

[XNote]

msdn: Teach Your Apps To Play Nicely With Windows Vista User Account Control

Active at Logon
Creating a Filtered Token
Designing Apps to Run with the Filtered Token
Designing Apps that Require Administrator Privileges
Privileges During Installation
Marking the Privileges for an MSI
Running Your App with Administrator Privileges
Marking Required Privileges Using an Application Manifest
Marking a COM Object
Alerting Users to Elevated Privileges
Communicating between Processes in Different Security Contexts
Low Rights Internet Explorer
Securing a Windows Service in Windows Vista
Common Application Compatibility Issues
Problems During Installation
Typical Runtime Application Issues

[delovski]

JoS: "works with vista" logo program - what a mess

"As I was running Vista, I had to fire up XP in Virtual PC to obtain it as
Verisign's site was incompatible with Vista. So to get a cert to verify my
app for Vista I had to use XP!"

[Ike]

RC: Why do operating system files still adhere to the old 8.3 naming convention?

"Well, the problem was that the map of Disneyland showed Autopia, but what
the map didn't say was that there were two Autopia rides (and therefore two
Autopia exits) right next to each other. My brother and I were waiting by one
exit, and our parents were waiting by the other. Each of us thought the other
party was simply late."

[delovski]

RC: What is the default version of a header file?

"If you want your program to run on older versions of Windows, you have
a few options. First, you can explicitly "downgrade" your header file by
defining an appropriate symbol or symbols before including the windows.h
header file."

[delovski]

JoS: Working Directories in Windows Vista

"Portable applications continue to use the CSIDL_* constants and functions,
and restrict themselves to supported folders.

Vista-only applications (which Microsoft hopes we're all writing) can use the
new KNOWNFOLDERIS api, and directly access any new folders."

[delovski]

The real cost of compatibility is not in the hacks; the hacks are small potatoes

"... the real cost of compatibility is in the design.

If you're going to design a feature that enhances the window manager in
some way, you have to think about how existing programs are going to
react to your feature. These are programs that predate your feature and
naturally know nothing about it.

Does your feature alter the message order? Does it introduce a new point
of re-entrancy? Does it cause a function to begin dispatching messages that
previously did not? You may be forced to design your feature differently in
order to accommodate these concerns. These issues aren't things you can
"take out"; they are inherently part of the feature design."

[Ike]

Casey Muratori - The Worst API Ever Made

"I don’t know how anyone is supposed to actually learn how to use the
Event Tracing for Windows API. Maybe there are good examples floating
around that I just never found. I had to piece the usage code together
over the course of many hours of experimentation, pulling from various
snippets of documentation. Each time I figured out another step of the
process I thought, “Wait, seriously?” And each time Microsoft implicitly
replied - Seriously."

[Ike]

Charles Petzold - Windows 1.0 and the Applications of Tomorrow

"However, I knew it was possible to run Windows 1.01 under Virtual PC, the
Microsoft product that creates virtual environments for applications and even
entire operating systems. Virtual PC works mostly in conjunction with virtual
hard disks, which are actually just files that can be created and manipulated
with programs like WinImage"

[delovski]

thenextweb - Microsoft releases tool for converting old software to modern Windows 10 apps

"At Build 2016, Microsoft announced the Desktop App Converter, a tool that
would allow developers to convert classic Windows programs into modern
Universal Windows Platform(UWP) apps.

A preview version is now available to download. As expected, it supports both
.NET and Win32 apps, which it can convert to AppX packages that support any
UWP API."

[Ike]

codeproject.com - Visual Studio 2010 and the Win32 API

"Visual Studio 10 has removed the global include/library folders, so this may
also affect your compilation/linking. Instead, you have the environment
variables (INCLUDE, LIB), project-specific include/lib directory specifications
or a props file to include."

[Ike]

so - SetWindowTextW in an ANSI project

"SetWindowText()/SetWindowTextA() and SetWindowTextW() are all really
WM_SETTEXT which is one of the few messages subject to code-page
translation when you create a multibyte/Ansi window. This means there is no
W and A versions of the message. All you need to do is intercept the
WM_SETTEXT message in your window and pass the arguments to
DefWindowProcW() instead of the usual DefWindowProcA/DefWindowProc()."