Windows 7 RTM Automation Resources for Vista SP2 and XP SP3 Release Notes

Windows PowerShell 2.0 is not the only Windows 7 default component that Microsoft has backported to older releases of the Windows operating system. Case in point: the Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM UI Accessibility Tools and Automations which were offered to developers at the end of October 2009. A week after Windows 7 became generally available to customers, the Windows Automation API 3.0 Platform also shipped to Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008. On January 12th, 2010, Microsoft also published the Release Notes for the Windows Automation API 3.0 offered for earlier releases of Windows.

Essentially, the Windows Automation API 3.0 release notes are designed to detail all the changes and improvements brought to the table by the application programming interface for accessibility and automation in Windows. Here is an example for Vista and Windows Server 2008 R2: “To provide consistency with Windows 7, and to continue the deprecation of the accDescription property, Windows common edit controls now display the Cuebanner text through IAccessible::accHelpText instead of IAccessible::accDescription,” according to Microsoft.

The Windows Automation API 3.0 platform continues to be available for download in no less than 5 major packages: for 32-bit XP, Windows Server 2003, Vista, and Windows Server 2008; for 64-bit Windows Server 2003, Vista, and Windows Server 2008. And of course, the API is included by default in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Developers will be able to find download links at the bottom of this article. While Microsoft is promising that the Windows Automation API 3.0 platform will be included in Vista SP3 when it ships, devs still building solutions for XP will only be able to grab the resource as a standalone download.

“Windows Automation API 3.0 removes special-casing for the Start button. Earlier versions had contained special cases for this button. However, the Start button is now treated the same as all other buttons. The most noticeable change is to the accName of the button, which is now "start" instead of "Start." Small changes to other properties may also be observed, depending on the UI theme,” informs Microsoft in the XP section of the Release Notes.

Below are the download links for Windows Automation API 3.0 Platform from Microsoft:

- Download the Update for Windows Server 2003 for x86-based systems package.
- Download the Update for Windows Server 2003 for x64-based systems package.
- Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 for x86-based systems package.
- Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 for x64-based systems package now.
- Download the Update for Windows Vista for x86-based systems package.
- Download the Update for Windows Vista for x64-based systems package.
- Download the Update for Windows XP for x86-based systems package.