What exactly is the Windows SDK?
Lots of people know about the PSDK, but I sometimes get blank looks when I say I work on the Windows SDK. Yeah, we used to be the PSDK, but times and the PSDK have changed and we've been re-branded. The Windows SDK provides all of the necessary headers, libraries, and tools needed to build Windows applications that make use of the Win32 API set and the .NET Framework, and includes samples to illustrate the technologies for those platforms.
Download the ISO Install or Web Install of the Windows Vista SDK (RTM version)
Visit the MSDN Windows SDK Blog
Look for a Windows SDK for "Longhorn" Server and .NET Framework 3.5 (coming soon)
Parts of the Windows SDK are being integrated into "Orcas," the new release of Visual Studio.
The Windows SDK is the combination of what used to be called the Platform SDK (PSDK) and what used to be called the “WinFX” SDK. The “WinFX” SDK was the combination of the .Net Framework 2.0 SDK and other managed code goodies like Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation.
The SDK Team delivers the content developers need to build apps on Windows using Win32 APIs and the .NET Framework:
- Documentation: Including both the conceptual (overviews, getting started, how-to) and the reference (API listings)
- Tools, Headers and Libraries: All the things needed to have a good development experience with the Windows SDK, including tools, headers, libs, compilers, debuggers, and command line environments.
- Samples: Samples are created by Product Units around Microsoft and by the SDK Team, including samples that use managed code and those that primarily use native code.
Windows SDK content is delivered in several different ways:
- Downloadable Windows SDKs
- Order the Windows SDK on DVD
- The Windows Vista Developer Story on MSDN
- In Visual Studio (press F1)
- On MSDN