Windows API Code Pack V1 Released

Going along with Windows 7, the final version of the Windows API Code Pack was released last week. The code pack is a way to provide access to Windows features that lack a managed interface in the framework today, primarily for things added in Windows Vista and Windows 7. For example, the code pack adds managed wrappers around native Windows APIs allowing you to integrate with newer shell, dialog, power, and DirectX features.

The API that WCF programmers are most likely to be interested in is the Network List Manager interface that I talked about when it was added to the code pack beta. The network list manager service tracks information about all of the network connections the machine has seen and knows whether they’re currently connected or disconnected. This allows you to enumerate all of the computer’s connections and query properties such as the IP address, network adapter, protocol versions, gateway settings, and whether the connection joins the machine to a Windows domain.