WinFX is Windows Vista's managed-code programming model, building on and extending the .NET Framework. WinFX offers both practical solutions to today's software challenges and new opportunities to create software and services not possible now. It enables both developers and designers to quickly create new applications and experiences that are more reliable and secure, visually stunning, smarter about information management, better connected, and more collaborative.

A primary goal of WinFX is to make it simple for developers to build a broad variety of applications more quickly than they can today, whether they're part of a development team in a Global 100 company or in a small ISV. To do this, WinFX delivers:

• A consistent programming model across all Windows Vista features
• A single, intuitive, "right way" to do common tasks
• High-level class libraries that encapsulate common tasks
• A familiar programming paradigm that builds on existing skills
• A framework that is "tool-friendly"

WinFX also focuses on helping developers improve software quality. One of the largest challenges facing developers today is how to build secure, reliable, scalable, versionable, and deployable applications easily. WinFX will provide a programming platform that makes it much easier for developers to deliver this kind of quality across the application lifecycle without sacrificing productivity. To do this, WinFX will deliver:

• Deployment and update support that is simple for developers to understand
• Security support for common tasks that is transparent to the developer
• Default capabilities that eliminate common programming errors such as buffer overruns

WinFX also begins to reduce the gap between developers and designers to enable them to create better looking, easier-to-use applications. Traditional system-level APIs like Win32 were primarily focused on the system software developer as a customer. WinFX represents an opportunity to reach out to new customers, and consequently it needs to be simpler to build applications on.