Best practices

Author: Anders (talk, contrib)

Installers and the applications they install should aspire to meet the certification requirements for Windows desktop apps (The technical requirements for the Windows 7 Client Software Logo Program can be found here).

Fundamentals

• Must have an opt-out option for any bundled apps.
• Must not take a dependency on Windows compatibility modes, AppHelp message, and or any other compatibility fixes.
  • Application compatibility layers are there for the customer, not for the program.
• Must have a compatibility manifest, and use the appropriate GUIDs for the supported versions of Windows.
• Must follow User Account Control guidelines:
  • Must have a manifest that defines the execution level and tells the operating system what privileges the app requires in order to run .
• Must support a clean, reversible installation and comply with the Install/Uninstall requirements:
  • The installer must create the correct registry entries to allow successful detection and uninstalls.
  • Do not attempt to replace files protected by Windows File Protection.
• Must install to the correct folders by default:
  • Shared components that are private to a single software vendor should be stored in $COMMONFILES or $PROGRAMFILES\<company name>\Shared Files.
  • Your app data, which must be shared among users on the computer, should be stored within %ProgramData%.
  • Your app’s data that is exclusive to a specific user and that is not to be shared with other users of the computer, must be stored in $APPDATA and/or $LOCALAPPDATA.
  • Your app must write user data at first run and not during the installation in “per-machine” installations.
• The %PATH% environment variable is a shared resource.
  • Use the App Paths key to prepend information to the %PATH% environment variable on a per-application basis if possible.

Start Menu/Start Screen

• Provide icons for the four supported Start screen scale values to ensure that your icons look crisp on all form factors.
• If you install a suite of apps rather than a single app, add one shortcut for each app in the suite. (Be aware that while the Apps view groups tiles and shows the folder name, this name isn't visible when a tile is pinned to the Start screen, so make your tile names sufficiently descriptive.)
  • Create a single-level product folder for suites that contain three or more tiles.
• Don't create a product folder if your suite contains only a single shortcut. Place your shortcut in the top-level $SMPROGRAMS folder.
• Don't provide multiple shortcuts to the same app (no "safe-mode"/"add-ons disabled" shortcuts).
• Don't create shortcuts to uninstallers, help files, wizards or web sites. (Windows 8+: Shortcuts that don't map to executables, such as shortcuts that launch web sites or help files, are filtered out of the Start screen.)
• Don't create shortcuts to features or functionality that can be launched from within the app itself.
• Don't create a tile for a host or runtime for applications, like Silverlight or Java. Provide an entry point to uninstall the framework in Add/Remove Programs and provide any settings entry point in Control Panel.
• Don't programmatically pin shortcuts, the pin list is a place for users to put their favorite icons.
• The Quick Launch bar and Favorites menu belong to the user

Security

• Do not give all users write access to $InstDir. Any executable files like .exe and .dll should only be modifiable by trusted users/groups.
• The installer should not be named "setup.exe" because a bug in the Windows compatibility layer allows a 3rd-party to inject DLLs with certain names.

See also

• Windows 2000 Application Specification:
  • Chapter 2. Install/Uninstall
  • Appendix A. Best Practices
• Application Compatibility Cookbook:
  • Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  • Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
  • Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
• Guidelines for File Associations and Default Programs
  • Registering Programs with Client Types
  • Set Program Access and Computer Defaults (SPAD)
  • Best Practices for File Associations
  • File Types and File Associations
• Windows App Certification Kit
  • Certification requirements for Windows desktop apps
  • Certify your desktop application
• Windows Vista Developer Story
  • Platform Update for Windows Vista
• Windows 7 Developer Guide
• Windows 8.1 Product Guide
• Windows hardware certification (aka Windows Logo Program for Hardware or WHQL)
  • Windows Hardware Certification Kit
• Games for Windows Technical Requirements
  • Rich saved games
  • WMC (SDK)
    • 10-Foot Experience
  • GFWL