Microsoft Windows SDK

Microsoft Windows SDK, and its predecessors Platform SDK, and .NET Framework SDK, are software development kits (SDKs) from Microsoft that contain documentation, header files, libraries, samples and tools required to develop applications for Microsoft Windows and .NET Framework.[1] Platform SDK specializes in developing applications for Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003. .NET Framework SDK is dedicated to developing applications for .NET Framework 1.1 and .NET Framework 2.0. Windows SDK is the successor of the two and supports developing applications for Windows XP and later, as well as .NET Framework 3.0 and later.[2]

Microsoft Windows SDK
Developer(s)Microsoft
Stable release
10.0.18362.0 / May 21, 2019 (2019-05-21)
Operating systemWindows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
TypeApplication programming interface (API)
Websitedeveloper.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/sdk-archive

Features

Platform SDK is the successor of the original Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 3.1x and Microsoft Win32 SDK for Windows 9x. It was released in 1999 and is the oldest SDK. Platform SDK contains compilers, tools, documentations, header files, libraries and samples needed for software development on IA-32, x64 and IA-64 CPU architectures. .NET Framework SDK however, came to being with .NET Framework. Starting with Windows Vista, the Platform SDK, .NET Framework SDK, Tablet PC SDK and Windows Media SDK are replaced by a new unified kit called Windows SDK. However, the .NET Framework 1.1 SDK is not included since the .NET Framework 1.1 does not ship with Windows Vista. (Windows Media Center SDK for Windows Vista ships separately.) DirectX SDK was merged into Windows SDK with the release of Windows 8.[3]

Windows SDK allows the user to specify the components to be installed and where to install them. It integrates with Visual Studio, so that multiple copies of the components that both have are not installed; however, there are compatibility caveats if either of the two is not from the same era.[4][5] Information shown can be filtered by content, such as showing only new Windows Vista content, only .NET Framework content, or showing content for a specific language or technology.

Windows SDKs are available for free; they were once available on Microsoft Download Center but were moved to MSDN in 2012.

A developer might want to use an older SDK for a particular reason. For example, the Windows Server 2003 Platform SDK released in February 2003 was the last SDK to provide full support of Visual Studio 6.0. Some older PSDK versions can still be downloaded from the Microsoft Download center; others can be ordered on CD/DVD.[6]

Microsoft SDK version release history[7]
NameVersion numberBuild numberRelease dateDownloadNotes
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit3.1???
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit3.11???
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit3.1???
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit3.5???
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit3.51???
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit4.0???
Included in Visual Studio 6? 5.0.1636.1 1998-06?
Microsoft Platform SDK April 1999??1999-04?MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.

Last Platform SDK to officially install on Windows 95

Microsoft Platform SDK September 1999??1999-09?MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.

Last Platform SDK to fully support Visual C++ 5.0

Microsoft Platform SDK February 2001??2001-02?
Microsoft Platform SDK June 2001??2001-06?MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.

Last Platform SDK to officially develop for Windows 95. (Does not officially install on Windows 95)

Microsoft Platform SDK August 2001?5.1.2601.02001-08MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.

Last Platform SDK to unofficially develop for Windows 95. (Does not officially install on Windows 95)

Microsoft Platform SDK November 2001?5.2.3590.22001-11
Microsoft Platform SDK May 2002?5.2.3639.12002-05
Microsoft Platform SDK July 2002?5.2.3663.02002-07
Microsoft Platform SDK August 2002?5.2.3672.12002-08
Microsoft Platform SDK November 2002?5.2.3718.12002-11
Microsoft Platform SDK February 2003 ? 5.2.3790.0 2003-02 Last version with VC6 support[8] and latest version with Windows 95 and Windows 98 support.
.NET Framework SDK Version 1.1 ? 1.1.4322.573 2003-03-29 Included in Visual Studio 2003. Does not include the Platform SDK.
Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows XP SP2 ? 5.1.2600.2180 2004-08 Introduced strsafe.h
Windows Server 2003 SP1 Platform SDK ? 5.2.3790.1830.15 2005-05-02
Windows Server 2003 R2 Platform SDK ? 5.2.3790.2075.51 2006-03-14 Also suggested by MS to work with VS6[9]
.NET Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit ? 2.0.50727.42 2006-11-29 Included in Visual Studio 2005 Professional. Does not include the Platform SDK.
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit for Windows Vista and .NET Framework 3.0 Runtime Components v6.0 6.0.6000.16384 2006-10-30 The C++ compilers in this SDK release support the /analyze key.
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit Update for Windows Vista v6.1 6.1.6000.16384.10 2007-03-22 First unified .NET and Platform SDK. Does not support Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003
Included in Visual Studio 2008[10] v6.0a 6.1.6723.1 2007-11-19
Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 v6.1 6.0.6001.18000.367 2008-02-05 .NET Framework 3.5
Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 v7.0 6.1.7600.16385 2009-07-24
Included in Visual Studio 2010 v7.0a 6.1.7600.16385 2010-04-12 .NET Framework 4. Works only with Visual Studio 2010 and not Visual Studio 2010 Express. This is also the last version to include offline documentation.[11]
Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 v7.1 7.1.7600.0.30514 2010-05-19[12][13] , It is the latest version that officially supports Windows XP target.
Included in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1 (or later) v7.1A 7.1.51106 ? ? Introduces the "v110_xp" platform toolset
Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 8 and .NET Framework 4.5 v8.0 6.2.9200.16384 2012-11-15[14] .NET Framework 4.5, Windows Store apps and Integrated DirectX SDK
Included in Visual Studio 2012 v8.0A 8.0.50727 ? ?
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8.1 v8.1 8.100.25984.0 2013-10-17 Windows 8.1, .NET Framework 4.5.1, Windows Store apps and Integrated DirectX SDK
Included in Visual Studio 2013 v8.1A 8.1.51636 ? ? Includes the "v120_xp" platform toolset
Windows Standalone SDK for Windows 10 v10 10.0.10240.0 2015-07-29 Also included in Visual Studio 2015[15]
Windows Standalone SDK for Windows 10, Version 1511[16] v10 10.0.10586.212 2015-11-30 Also included in Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 & 2[17]
Windows Standalone SDK for Windows 10, Version 1607 v10 10.0.14393.795 2016-08-02 Also included in Visual Studio 2015 Update 3
Windows Standalone SDK for Windows 10 Creators Update, Version 1703 v10 10.0.15063.0 2017-04-05 Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.1
Windows 10 SDK for Fall Creators Update v10 10.0.16299.15 2017-10-10 Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.4
Windows 10 SDK for April 2018 Update v10 10.0.17134.0 2018-05-08 Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.7
Windows 10 SDK for October 2018 Update v10 10.0.17763.0 2018-10-02 Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.8
Windows 10 SDK for Windows 10, version 1903 v10 10.0.18362.0 2019-05-21 Included in Visual Studio 2019
Windows 10 SDK for Windows 10, version 2004 v10 10.0.19041.0 2020-05-12
Removed features of Windows SDK
VersionRemoved feature
Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1[18]
  • capicom.dll (CAPICOM is deprecated)
  • iacom.dll
  • ialoader.dll
  • msistuff.exe
  • perflibmig.exe
  • permcalc.exe
  • secutil.exe
  • windowssideshowvirtualdevice.exe (replaced by DeviceSimulatorforWindowsSideShow.msi)
  • wpfperf.msi (now included in the Windows Performance Toolkit suite)
  • xamlpad.exe (XAMLPad)
Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4[19]
  • UISpy.exe (Replaced by newer tools)
  • Wpt_arch.msi
  • Managed code samples (Moved to Code Gallery)
  • DExplore document viewer (Can be separately installed)
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8[20]
  • Command-line build environment, including:
    • Windows SDK Platform Toolset
    • Visual C++ Compilers and C Runtime (CRT)
    • Windows SDK Configuration Tool
  • Tools and reference assemblies for versions of the .NET Framework earlier than 4.5
  • Apatch.exe
  • Bind.exe
  • Checkv4.exe
  • Consume.exe
  • DeviceSimulatorForWindowsSideShow.msi
  • Err.exe
  • FDBrowser.exe
  • FXCopSetup.exe
  • Guidgen.exe
  • Make-Shell.exe
  • MDbg.exe
  • Mpatch.exe
  • MSIZap.exe
  • PTConform.exe
  • ReBase.exe
  • sddlgen.exe
  • setenv.cmd
  • SetReg.exe
  • SoapSuds.exe
  • Sporder.exe
  • TcpAnalyzer.exe
  • TSPDesigner.exe
  • UTL2IDL.exe
  • ValidateSD.exe
  • VirtualLightSensor.exe
  • WinDiff.exe
  • WpfPerf.exe
  • All Windows samples (moved to Code Gallery)
  • Microsoft Help Viewer
  • IntelliSense XML documentation comments for the .NET Framework reference assemblies
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8.1[21] Nothing
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 10 Nothing[22]

Documentation

The Windows SDK documentation includes manuals documenting:

See also

References
  1. "Windows SDK: Download Windows Server 2008 SDK and more". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  2. "Windows SDK Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  3. "Where is the DirectX SDK?". Windows Dev Center. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  4. "Windows SDK Fails to Install with Return Code 5100". Support. Microsoft. 5 June 2012.
  5. Stewart, Heath (1 April 2011). "Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Compiler Update for the Windows SDK 7.1". Setup & Install by Heath Stewart. Microsoft.
  6. Microsoft Software Development Kits CD Order Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Windows and Windows Phone SDK archive
  8. Windows® Server 2003 SP1 Platform SDK Web Install, Microsoft Download Center "The last SDK that will work with VC 6.0 is the February 2003 Edition, you can order a CD on the fulfillment site."
  9. "Platform SDK February 2003 installation + IE8". Social.msdn.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  10. Microsoft Windows SDK Blog: New samples in Win 7 SDK: Direct2D and DirectWrite
  11. "Windows SDK 7.1 release notes". Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  12. Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 iso image
  13. Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 web installer
  14. Windows SDK for Windows 8 – Windows Dev Center. Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved on 2014-02-16.
  15. Building Apps for Windows 10 with Visual Studio 2015
  16. Windows 10 SDK Release Notes
  17. Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 Release Notes
  18. Release Notes, Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  19. Release Notes, Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4
  20. "Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8". Windows Dev Center. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  21. "Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8". Windows Dev Center. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  22. "Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 10". Windows Dev Center. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
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