“Certified for Windows Vista” Software Logo Requirements

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Critical to the success of User Account Control is having software that works well for standard users and administrators, without excess prompts. Since User Account Control is such a central part of Windows Vista, User Account Control compatibility is one of the key requirements to display the Certified for Windows Vista Logo on software.

v 1.1 of the Certified for Windows Vista Software Logo Technical Requirements is available now. Our goal in sharing this information on our blog is to make sure that any ISV’s reading this are aware of the requirements so that they have ample time to make their product compliant and to give our customers confidence that there will be a great supply of software that works well for standard users and UAC.

Some of the key requirements that relate to User Account Control and running as a standard user:

· Make sure the application works well for standard users, unless it is something truly designed to be run only by system administrators such as disk partitioning software. If the program has admin and non-admin components the main application should still be run as a standard user and administrative features should be moved to a separate executable.

· Every .exe file included with an application must have an embedded manifest that defines its execution level. Such as:

<requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker|highestAvailable|requireAdministrator" uiAccess="true|false"/>

Note, including the manifest file will disable File and Registry Virtualization for the application. So the application has to work well for a standard user without relying on virtualization.

· Executable files with .EXE, .DLL, .SYS, .DRV, .OCX, .CPL, or .SCR extensions must be signed with an Authenticode certificate.

· Installers must not assume that the person who starts the installation is the one who finishes the installation. For example if your program allows per user and all user installations, a standard user should be able to start the install, but it should prompt for admin credentials if the user chooses the all users option.

· If the installer uses a boostrapper/chainer, it must include an embedded manifest that designates the desired execution level for the installer.

Another big change in the Certified for Windows Vista logo requirements is that applications must be independently tested by a Microsoft approved testing vendor before they are granted logo certification. A draft of the test cases that will be used to verify compliance are posted here.

We’ve also provided a number of resources to help developers make their software Windows Vista and User Account Control compatible, including:

· Developer Best Practices and Guidelines for Applications in a Least Privileged Environment

· Microsoft Standard User Analyzer

· Windows Vista Jumpstart Toolkit

Learn more about the Certified for Windows Vista Software Quality Logo program including how to enroll your company’s software at https://www.isvinnovationportal.com/windowsvista.

When developers release software that meets the Certified for Windows Vista requirements, users will experience even fewer User Account Control prompts than they are seeing on beta versions today. And the Windows Vista team will continue to minimize the number of OS-generated prompts and help make as many legacy programs as possible work without prompting to ensure a good User Account Control experience in the final release.

 - Alex Heaton
User Account Control Product Manager