Windows desktop developer center updates for 08.26.2011

We're currently getting ready for the upcoming content releases but we do have a few new things to share.

Social and Windows Developer Communities

We recently integrated with all up Windows group on Facebook.  To access and like the Developer pages, click on the "More Social" or "What's new" link then select developer from the tabs that appear. Clicking the "like" icon will sign you up for Windows developer announcements that are made on Facebook. You can also still subscribe to us over the Windows desktop developer twitter account.

Forum Renames

This week, we renamed a number of the Windows desktop developer forums.  If you're used to the old names, the changes are very minor.  The following list summarizes the updates to names:

 Old Name

New Name

Application  Compatibility for Windows Development

Application  Compatibility for Windows Desktop  Development

Developing  Applications with Power Management

Developing  Windows Desktop Applications with  Power Management

Development  for Windows Accessibility and Automation

Windows Desktop Development for Accessibility and Automation

DirectShow  Development

DirectShow  Development

General  Windows Development Issues

General  Windows Desktop Development Issues

Ink,  Windows Touch, and Tablet PC Development

Windows Desktop Development for Ink, Touch, and Tablet PC

Media  Foundation Development

Media  Foundation Development for Windows Desktop

Microsoft  Message Queuing (MSMQ)

Microsoft  Message Queuing (MSMQ)

Network  Monitor

Windows Desktop Network Monitor

Optical  Platform Discussion

Windows Desktop Optical Platform Discussion

Peer-to-Peer  Networking

Peer-to-Peer  Networking for Windows Desktop

Security  for Applications in Microsoft Windows

Application Security for Windows Desktop

Sidebar  Gadget Development

Windows Desktop Sidebar Gadget Development

User  Interface development for Windows

User  Interface development for Windows Desktop

Visual  C++ General

Visual  C++ General

Visual  C++ Language

Visual  C++ Language

Windows  Debugging

Windows  Desktop Debugging

Windows  Desktop Search Development

Windows  Desktop Search Development

Windows  Desktop Search Help

Windows  Desktop Search Help

Windows  Filtering Platform (WFP)

Windows  Filtering Platform (WFP)

Windows  Imaging Component

Windows  Imaging Component (WIC)

Windows  Perfmon and Diagnostic tools

Windows  Desktop Perfmon and Diagnostic tools

Windows  Pro-Audio Application Development

Windows  Desktop Pro-Audio Application  Development

Windows  Ribbon Development

Windows  Desktop Ribbon Development

Windows  SDK

Windows  Desktop SDK

Windows  Vista Wireless SDK

Windows  Desktop Vista Wireless SDK

Windows  WDK and Driver Development

Windows  Hardware WDK and Driver Development

Windows  Web Services API (webservices.dll)

Windows  Desktop Web Services API  (webservices.dll)

Windows  XP Wireless SDK

Windows  XP Wireless SDK

Winsock  Kernel (WSK)

Windows  Desktop Winsock Kernel (WSK)

 You can see the full current list of Windows desktop developer forums on MSDN now - feel free to let us know what you think about the current list of forums.

 Building Windows 8

The Building Windows 8 team released a new blog post covering updates and improvements to the file explorer and file operations experience. This has been their most commented on post yet, it's great to see the excitement building from Windows enthusiasts.

How-To Topics

We have mentioned this before, but we've been hard at work on creating plenty of How-to topics that give you quick solutions to specific problems.  The following link shows an example:

In the future, we'll try and create a search query that finds all the how-to topics but the right metadata has not yet been published.

See Also