Windows 7-Level Windows Web Services API for XP SP3 and Vista SP2 Available

Microsoft has kicked up a notch the Windows Web Services application programming interface for Windows platforms released before Windows 7, to the same level as the latest iteration of the client and server operating systems. Specifically, Microsoft has delivered the final version of the Windows Web Services API for Windows XP, including Service Pack 3, Windows Vista including SP2, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, at the end of the past week. According to Ari Pernick, senior software design engineer in test at Microsoft, the latest final version of WWSAPI corresponds to the release that is an integral part of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

“To develop for this version of the runtime, you need to install Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Please make sure to regenerate all code using the new version of wsutil.exe tool. You will also need to rebuild all source code that used any of the pre-released versions of this API,” Pernick noted.

The XP and Vista version of WWSAPI comes localized in no less than 25 languages, including: Arabic, Chinese – Hong Kong, Chinese - Simplified, Chinese - Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

With the finalization of the WWSAPI, Microsoft is now allowing developers to include it into production code. At the same time, the API can be redistributed by interested parties. However, companies looking to leverage the Windows Web Services API need to first agree to the terms of Windows Master Redistribution License Agreement (MRLA), even before they are permitted access.

“To acquire the redistributable installers for this release and a copy of the Windows MRLA for review, please email a formal request to wwsredst at microsoft.com. In your email, please include a brief description of your plans for using this release and the business contact information for your company using which you can be reached at later on. If you have questions about this release, please email them to wwsredst at microsoft.com,” Pernick stated.