For the developers out there, new APIs in Windows 7 allows you to take advantage of the new Windows 7 features like Multi-touch, Location and Libraries, quite easily. However getting information on these new APIs has previously been restricted to the MSDN documentation, and tutorials online.

For those of use that prefer our technical information printed on paper, Microsoft Press has a book that should hopefully get you started with the new APIs, creating rich Windows 7 enhanced applications in no time.

Introducing Windows 7 for Developers is that book. A collaborative effort between Yochay Kiriaty, Laurence Moroney, Sasha Goldshtein and Alon Fliess, this book looks at most of the cool new features in Windows 7, and how to use them in your own applications.

What it Covers

The book covers the major new features in Windows 7 like the Superbar and Multi-touch, as well as the how to implement the Ribbon that is included for all developers in the new OS. However the book does not cover the new DirectX APIs like Direct2D and DirectWrite, claiming that the APIs are simply too large to cover. Small overviews are provided of each technology so you have somewhere to start from.

The book covers developing for Windows 7 as both a native (C++) developer and a C#/.NET developer, however I noticed quite a large focus on the C++ side of things. The big strength of the book is in explaining the process for working with these new technologies, rather than the syntax. If you find the .NET explanation insufficient, there should be numerous resources online that provide the syntax and class definitions for working with the .NET Windows 7 libraries.

A very short overview is provided at the end for developer oriented features such as troubleshooting or profiling. I would have liked to have seen more detail on these topics, and some of the other “hidden” features of Windows 7 that make maintaining and developing applications easier.

Style

The book approaches each topic with an overview of the new feature, before diving into implementing some example applications that make use of the features. This hybrid theory/hands-on approach works quite well, however the authors expect the reader to know how to work with the other technologies used like WPF.

I found the examples to be simple, but effective. They get straight to the point and tell you what you need to know to get the specific task done. In the topic on multi-touch, they provide examples on what each type of touch should be used for, and throughout the book they provide small overviews of the API relating to that particular topic.

There are plenty of diagrams, tables and screenshots that demonstrate what is going on, and many of those will even provide a little hint on where you can go past the samples and play around with more advanced features.

Conclusion

For those who have a solid background in developing for Windows in general, either using MFC or WPF/WinFoms for .NET, you will find this book to be a good starting point for enhancing your applications with the new features in Windows 7. Topics are explained in detail before they work on implementation, and through this you can gain an understanding of how the features should be used in your application. This is especially important with multi-touch, where there are standard gestures that you should not alter – although you certainly can go your own route, and the book will explain how to do that as well.

Weighing in at 395 pages (including Index), this book is not a hefty tome like many other programming books. The abundance of lists, figures and code samples means that you won’t be reading giant blocks of text all of the time, which makes the reading experience much nicer. This is certainly an introductory book for a very specific topic, and if you are interested in working with these technologies, I would highly recommend using this book as a starting point.

MS Press Australia sells this book through its online store for $69.95 AUD.

Book Details

Title: Introducing Windows 7 for Developers
Author: Yochay Kiriaty, Laurence Moroney, Sasha Goldshtein, Alon Fliess
ISBN: 978-0-7356-2682-9

Buy from Microsoft Press Australia (AU $65.95)