LOS ANGELES — Sept. 13, 2005 — Today at the Professional Developers Conference 2005 (PDC05), Microsoft Corp. announced that more than 30 independent software vendors (ISVs) have already confirmed plans to deliver new applications optimized for the upcoming Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system. The announcement signaled strong industry response to Microsoft’s next-generation operating system and the opportunity for ISVs to ride the accompanying upgrade wave. Windows Vista will empower ISVs to drive new business opportunities through next-generation desktop applications.
In conjunction with this, Microsoft also announced a new service within Windows Marketplace called Digital Locker, which will be available in the Windows Vista timeframe. Digital Locker will give ISVs a new channel to promote their products to millions of Windows customers.
With brick-and-mortar shelf space becoming increasingly limited, distribution of software is becoming more challenging for ISVs. Electronic software distribution (ESD) is an increasingly popular method for ISVs to get products to their customers. Microsoft’s goal is to help ISVs bring the products they are developing for Windows to their customers by helping make the consumer experience for buying and downloading software easier and safer.
The Digital Locker service, which was demonstrated at PDC, lets customers easily purchase, download and store information for software from the rich portfolio of products available on the Windows platform. More than 120,000 products and 10,000 free downloads are currently available at Windows Marketplace.
“Windows Vista represents the next step for the personal computer, builds on the successes of Microsoft .NET and offers developers a host of new opportunities,” said Sanjay Parthasarathy, corporate vice president of the Developer & Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft. “The response we’re experiencing from the industry shows that our partners are seeing the value and market opportunities in betting and building on the advancements in Windows Vista.”
Industry Delivering Applications on Windows Vista
The following vendors have announced they will deliver applications built for Windows Vista at the time the operating system ships:
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ABB Ltd. “ABB solutions, developed on Microsoft technology, offer significant value to our customers in terms of reduced risk, improved safety, increased productivity, and reduced total cost of ownership,” said Bob Hausler, vice president of Industrial IT Systems Marketing at ABB. A leading power and automation technology group, ABB is integrating Windows Vista, Windows Presentation Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation into the core software platform for the Industrial IT System 800xA Extended Automation System. The improved security features and capabilities of Windows Vista and the Windows Communication Foundation will enable ABB to deliver a more secure and robust automation environment than ever before.
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Actional Corp. “As the leading provider of Web services management, Actional is initiating its support of Windows Vista by developing a custom Ghost Agent for the Windows Communication Foundation, formerly code-named ‘Indigo,’” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Actional. “Actional’s unprecedented Ghost Agent technology is used to enable the end-to-end visibility necessary for our enterprise-class service-oriented architecture (SOA) management solutions. We are excited to extend that capability and look forward to our expanding support of Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Vista.”
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ADAM Technologies. “ADAM Technologies is pleased to take advantage of the productivity of Windows Vista to develop the new functionalities and user interfaces required in organizations today,” said Jorge González Gasque, CEO of ADAM Technologies. “Through Visual Studio® 2005 and Windows Server System™, we are enabling customers to increase content richness for an overall better design and visual implementation. ADAM 5 is based on standards and concepts of Windows Vista, giving customers a more attractive, modern and positive user experience in the application.”
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AOL. Windows Vista platform innovations and increasingly sophisticated user interface are expected to complement AOL’s new suite of Client applications, including the AOL Instant Messenger, AOL Mail and the new AOL Explorer stand-alone browser utilizing Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. “We’re working closely with Microsoft during the development of Windows Vista to further innovation in two of the most broadly used software offerings in the world,” said Sree Kotay, senior vice president of Product Technologies at AOL. “With Windows Vista, AOL looks forward to bringing an increasingly rich and connected experience to its members.”
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Autodesk Inc. Autodesk, the world’s leading provider of design, visualization and data management software, is supporting the Windows Presentation Foundation in Windows Vista to improve the design and development process and deliver cutting-edge visualization, graphics and media capability to today’s design professional. “The new Windows Vista design environment is cutting edge and looks very good. It not only provides a very rich 3-D user experience, it has a great tool set of cool graphics that will allow our users to more fully bring their ideas to life,” said Carl Bass, chief operating officer of Autodesk. “Together, this new UI and graphics capability will allow us to continue to deliver product innovation to our users for years to come.”
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Avaya Inc. “Windows Service Hardening, User Account Protection and Network Access Protection will increase the security and reliability of Avaya IP Office, Modular Messaging and Contact Center Applications, while Windows Presentation Foundation can offer more natural and easier-to-use desktop interfaces for these applications,” said Jorge Blanco, vice president of Strategic Marketing at Avaya. “We look forward to leveraging Microsoft Windows Vista and continuing the long history we have as a Microsoft development partner.” Avaya, a global leader in communication systems, applications and services, will take advantage of Windows Vista to enhance the customer value of Windows-based Avaya applications, helping organizations increase their productivity and customer responsiveness.
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Avenue A | Razorfish. “Windows Presentation Foundation opens up a huge creative sandbox to play in. From 3-D animation to the integration of high-definition video content, the possibilities are endless as far as opportunities we could realize,” said Darin Brown, executive vice president of Avenue A | Razorfish.
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Ayuda Media Systems (Ayuda). Ayuda, a leading software provider to the outdoor advertising industry, announced that it will be releasing a key module of its flagship product, BMS.net (Billboard Management System.net) that takes advantage of the unique capabilities of the Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation in Windows Vista. The module, called the BMS.net Proof of Performance Dashboard, is used by agencies and advertisers to track how their campaign is performing as it gets posted by the billboard owners. It offers proof that the creative has been posted on time on the promised billboards by showing pictures, posting information and dates, as well as location maps. “We’re able to offer an extremely rich user experience thanks to the presentation power of Windows Presentation Foundation in Windows Vista,” said Andreas Soupliotis, president and CEO of Ayuda. “The dashboard has some truly unique capabilities that take advantage of new technologies in Windows Vista. For example, agencies and advertisers can interact with a 3-D cube that has video drive-bys of the billboards they purchased showing their creative on it. The videos are texture-mapped on the sides of the cube, which they can rotate and spin, giving agencies and advertisers a sense of transparency with their campaigns. And because the back-end of BMS.net was built as a service-oriented architecture using Windows Communication Foundation, the dashboard can be run from anywhere as long as an Internet connection is present.” Soupliotis went on to say that “The new Windows Vista technology platform makes it really easy for us to build software that has incredibly cool user interfaces while leveraging the power of the Web — a combination that has traditionally been mutually exclusive in the past.”
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Borland Software Corp. “Borland plans to provide Delphi customers with full support for Windows Vista and related Windows Vista advanced technologies such as ‘Avalon’ and ‘Indigo,’” said Michael Swindell, director of Product Management for Windows and .NET Developer Tools at Borland. “Delphi has always provided developers with competitive advantage through RAD (rapid application development) for rich client, Web and data-enabled Windows development. With Windows Vista, Microsoft is again raising the bar for the Windows user experience, communication and security. We’re pleased to be able to deliver a premier RAD experience for Windows Vista users, and once again enable Delphi developers to leverage their skill investments and assets moving forward.”
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Captaris Inc. Captaris, a leading provider of business information delivery solutions, announced that Microsoft’s platform innovations will enable its developers to create more integrations and better Web experiences for customers. The Captaris Business Information Delivery suite automates the flow of unstructured documents throughout the information life cycle of capture, process, manage and deliver. “Windows Communication Foundation is central to our SOA strategy and will help extend our enterprise integrations via Web services,” said Jürgen Stephan, vice president of global marketing for Captaris. “Windows Presentation Foundation provides the flexibility of user interface design that our customers now demand.”
CMC India. “In our endeavor to deliver quality and add more value to our offerings, Windows Vista would play an important role as a platform for our solutions, both current and future,” said Prasad Rangnekar, executive vice president and global head of operations at CMC India. “The improved GUI and higher integration in Windows Vista would dramatically improve user satisfaction for the entire gamut of our solutions whether logistics and transportation or equity and securities.”
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Epicor Software Corp. Epicor Software, a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for the midmarket, expects Windows Vista and the Windows Communication Foundation to step up the abilities of Web services by adding options for deploying applications. Epicor has already delivered midmarket solutions on an SOA with interoperability provided by Web services. “With Microsoft Windows Communications Foundation, the same SOA code line can be deployed within an intranet at full speed with limited XML serialization costs. Or, the application can run via standard Web services using XML,” said James Norwood, vice president of product marketing for Epicor. “In short, Windows Vista and Windows Communications Foundation reduce the amount of code necessary for supporting multiple communication channels, and create more choices for Epicor customers to deploy their application.”
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Fluid Inc. “Windows Presentation Foundation enables the type of richly interactive brand experiences Fluid’s online retail customers demand,” said Tamir Scheinok, CEO of Fluid. “As e-commerce evolves from simply performing transactions to offering compelling user experiences, Windows Presentation Foundation will be a critical component of that evolution.”
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InsERT Sp zoo. “InsERT is thrilled to announce plans to build software using Windows Vista, continuing in our commitment to create software with a state-of-the-art user interface, increased security and RSS capabilities,” said Jaroslaw Szawlis, president of InsERT. “Windows Vista will enable InsERT to provide customers with advanced features and functionality in our popular ‘InsERT GT’ system.”
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K2.net. “We are excited to be a part of the Windows Vista early adoption and development cycle,” said Adriaan Van Wyk, CEO of K2.net. “Our native support for XML and Web services allows K2.net to interoperate seamlessly with WinFX™ and Windows Presentation Foundation. By combining the advanced features of Windows Vista with K2.net, developers will be able to design advanced workflow applications faster, and customers will be able to visualize their solutions in real time.”
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Knowledge Computing Corp. “Windows Vista significantly enhances the tactical analytical, lead generation and visualization tools that make COPLINK® one of the most powerful crime-fighting and anti-terrorism solutions available,” said Robert Griffin, president and CEO of Knowledge Computing. “Utilizing Windows Presentation Foundation and .NET, law enforcement agencies will experience more visually intuitive 3-D user interfaces for displaying complex information, faster displays and greater connectivity.”
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LogicBay. “The Windows Presentation Foundation enables LogicBay to help organizations cultivate loyalty, drive market share and manage cost of their channels through faster and easier delivery of rich eLearning content,” said John Panaccione, CEO of LogicBay. “Windows Presentation Foundation allows us to give our customers the ability to respond at the speed of change.”
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Meridio Ltd. “One of the key values we offer is the low cost of ownership one achieves when software seamlessly works in a customer’s environment,” said John Bellegarde, vice president of marketing at Meridio. “Windows Vista will allow us to extend that value proposition as it is widely adopted.” Meridio is a leading supplier of desktop-based enterprise content management (ECM) software for the Microsoft platform.
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Pansoft Inc. Pansoft, a Business Framework of ERP system provider, is leveraging the Windows Communication Foundation and WinFX to unify documents and deliver cutting-edge graphics and media. For example, Pansoft’s developers were able to build animated charts and graphs that are linked to back-end data sources to produce a smart solution that displays stock prices, sales and other information within a high-end professionally designed format. “Many developers have not taken the visual design of their applications seriously enough, with the most innovative work restricted to creative professional software,” said Xu Xun, vice president of Pansoft. “Windows Vista brings the designer and developer closer, so they can truly collaborate on creating software applications that are as beautiful as they are functional.”
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Pivotal Corp. Pivotal, a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that serves the specific front-office requirements of companies in the financial services, manufacturing, real estate/construction, healthcare insurance and other industries, will use Windows Vista to provide CRM data across multiple devices and external systems. “We are very excited to take advantage of the enhanced security, performance, scalability, reliability and usability that Windows Vista offers,” said Bruce Kenny, senior vice president of products at Pivotal. “Windows Communication Foundation helps give us a secure communications infrastructure, allowing us to deliver on our promise to provide CRM applications across a wide array of devices. Other innovations such as ClickOnce application deployment technology, security patch management and backup capability give us the flexibility to offer our customers CRM applications that are more reliable, easier to deploy and simpler to administer at a lower total cost of ownership than solutions developed on competing platforms.”
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ProClarity Corp. “Windows Presentation Foundation provides new opportunities for simplifying and clarifying complex multidimensional data through rich visualizations and animations,” said Russ Whitney, senior vice president of Research and Development at ProClarity. “What would have taken days to design and build in the past can now be done in hours, with real-time prototyping. The reduction in effort to achieve new levels of interactivity brings new possibilities that were never considered in the past. With Windows Presentation Foundation, our team can focus less on basic implementations and more on innovative, exciting and compelling designs for understanding data.”
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Step Ahead AG. Step Ahead AG, vendor of the software factory for business applications, announced how new technologies such as Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communications Foundation are enabling their ISV partners to develop business applications with more connected experiences for customers. StepAhead provides a software development platform that enables small- and medium-sized enterprises to build with Windows Presentation Foundation next-generation UI and create visually appealing applications to improve usability for better user experience. StepAhead’s Steps Development Studio solution uses the model of a software factory and therefore automates the time-consuming, technical aspects of application development by using a domain-specific design approach that leverages the flexibility of the Microsoft .NET Framework. The solution enables developers to create affordable applications with Windows Communications Foundation for more secure, reliable and transacted Web services that address unique business needs and offer a faster return on investment. “Microsoft’s platform innovations are empowering our developers and ISVs to quickly and easily build more-connected, information-driven applications that start to blur the line between traditional applications and the Web,” said Wolfgang Reichenbach, CEO of StepAhead. “With Windows Vista, PC applications come to life, enabling developers to deliver an experience capable of conveying a unique brand identity in a desktop application.”
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Symantec Corp. “Symantec is committed to working with Microsoft to provide individuals and enterprises with a secure and available computing environment on the Windows Vista platform,” said Enrique Salem, senior vice president of Security Products and Solutions for Symantec. “Microsoft’s platform innovations are providing us with opportunities to better help customers prepare for the evolving threat landscape.”
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Telvent GIT SA. Telvent, the Global RealTime IT Company, is integrating Windows Communication Foundation to achieve the power of secure RealTime communication in mission-critical environments where interoperability with legacy systems is key. Windows Communication Foundation has helped Telvent to simplify this task. For example, Telvent’s customers will be able to easily bring data together from multiple disparate data sources, such as weather data combined with historical energy usage, to help predict future energy consumption. This will result in a unified user experience that enables business decisions to be made in RealTime.
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TKC Corp. “TKC is excited about the functionality and increased usability opportunities in Windows Vista,” said Yukio Namai, director of TKC. “By taking advantage of the user interface and the new logging and analytic functions, Windows Vista will enable TKC’s Task.NET system to become a more pivotal platform for the Japanese government, providing increased security in a safe environment.”
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Trend Micro Inc. “Through the increased security of Windows Vista, our customers will have a more reliable platform to build applications,” said Punit Minocha, associate vice president of business development and corporate planning at Trend Micro. “With Windows Vista, customers will be more at ease while accessing the Internet.”
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UGS Corp. UGS, a leading global provider of product life-cycle management (PLM) software and services, will take advantage of new technologies such as Windows Presentation Foundation to create more connected experiences for customers. Through the Windows Presentation Foundation, UGS plans to extend the reach of 3-D information commonly used as part of product life-cycle processes. “Microsoft’s platform innovations are enabling us to build solutions that extend the reach of UGS customer operations,” said Chris Kelley, vice president of Partner and Platform Marketing at UGS. “With Windows Vista, a rich media experience can be delivered to the desktop with minimal IT overhead.”
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Wonderware. Wonderware, a business unit of Invensys Systems Inc., is utilizing new technologies such as Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation to create more connected experiences for customers. With the release of Windows Vista, Wonderware continues its long-standing history of delivering manufacturing applications built on Microsoft’s latest technology. “Having instant access to key performance indicators is vital to our customers. Windows Presentation Foundation will enable our customers to rapidly visualize and optimize different aspects of their manufacturing operations in real time, and act on that information accordingly,” said Keith Jones, visualization product manager for Wonderware. “Microsoft’s platform innovations are empowering our developers to quickly and easily build more-connected, information-driven applications that start to blur the line between traditional applications and the Web,” said Rashesh Mody, chief technology officer for Wonderware. “With Windows Vista, PC applications come to life, enabling developers to deliver an experience capable of conveying a unique brand identity in a desktop application.”
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Yingnet Qingdao Information Technology. “We are very excited for the release of Windows Vista,” said Weeson Chu, general manager of Yingnet Quingdao Information Technology. “Through the release of Windows Vista and Microsoft .NET technologies, we look forward to simplifying our customers’ user experience.”
Microsoft Announces $100 Million Investment in Windows Vista ISV Community
Microsoft today announced the Windows Vista Partner Showcase Program, a $100 million investment designed to drive a wave of enterprise, small-business and consumer ISV applications built on Windows Vista. This program will encourage and reward ISVs for their commitment to delivering innovation and value for customers. Participating ISVs will have access to new distribution channels, co-marketing opportunities and financial incentives. More information about the program will be available by the end of the year.
Optimizing Windows Vista
Software developers can obtain more information about how to optimize both new and existing applications for Windows Vista at http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista.
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