Questions tagged [windows]

Questions involving programming on Microsoft Windows technology, including its API.

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1 answer
166 views

Most flexible UI Framework for Windows endpoint?

I am tasked with designing and implementing a flexible UI solution for deployment across a series of "kiosk"-ed Windows endpoints. There is some debate about what is the considered to be the best ...
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to divide work to a network of computers?

Imagine a scenario as follows: Lets say you have a central computer which generates a lot of data. This data must go through some processing, which unfortunately takes longer than to generate. In ...
  • 219
24 votes
5 answers
10k views

Why can't Windows services have a GUI?

I was using this feature in earlier Windows release like XP and NT. I was able to run a GUI from a Windows service. But it is not possible in the later versions. What is the reason behind the removal ...
  • 477
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Benefit of C++ to System Administrators [closed]

What benefit could C++ bring to system administrators? I am working on Windows and Ubuntu. If I learn C++, where could I implement it in system administration, Please specify some of its benefits.
3 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why was support for Windows XP dropped in PHP 5.5? [closed]

In the release notes for PHP 5.5.0 it's announced that Windows XP and Windows 2003 are not supported anymore: Drop Windows XP and 2003 support. (Pierre) Why is this? Many people in different ...
12 votes
3 answers
28k views

Windows Phone 8 development on Windows 7 - is it or will be possible? [closed]

I was trying to install Windows Phone 8 SDK on my Windows 7 machine and it hit me with the 'supported only on Windows 8' message. I actually wanted to develop Phone 7.5 apps on Visual Studio 2012, ...
  • 283
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

How to better integrate a unix development environment into Windows [closed]

I'm mostly a Windows user but I do most of my development (essentially web development) using unix tools and software. I've been going back and forth between using a dedicated lubuntu virtual machine ...
8 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why do Windows commands allow `-` and `/` switches? [closed]

> shutdown /? > Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e | /o] [/hybrid] [/f] The windows cmd.exe command shutdown only documents forward slash / switches, but it accepts ...
2 votes
3 answers
320 views

Is there an established convention for separating Windows file names in a string?

I have a function which needs to output a string containing a list of file paths. I can choose the separation character but I cannot change the data type (e.g. I cannot return a List<string> or ...
  • 9,596
0 votes
1 answer
650 views

Design patterns to manage multiple windows/screens?

Supposed there is an application with multiple windows, like: Logo splashscreen Connecting... screen Login-usercontrols screen Logging in... screen etc. Is there a design pattern, which allows to ...
  • 103
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Function calls to calls in windows api

When programming in Windows, how does Windows communicate with the programs that run on it? When you incorporate a function call which is in another memory location on the disk or memory (not a ...
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1 vote
3 answers
7k views

Difference between Windows and Linux development environments? [closed]

I have an interview coming up soon for a Business Analyst position and the recruiter mentioned some feedback from a prior candidate that was interviewed who said the interviewers asked him what the ...
  • 1,105
-1 votes
2 answers
717 views

What role does .ini play?

I am working with a MFC application for the first time and I have lots of doubts the biggest at the moment is What is .ini file and why is it there? What exactly is the role it plays? Can some tell me ...
  • 177
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

Windows driver signing [closed]

My company is developing driver for our hardware. Now I need to sign my driver for 32 and 64 bit platforms. Please tell, now I need to buy Authenticode certificate, right? What CA to use? DigiCert? ...
0 votes
2 answers
438 views

WINAPI beginner guidance question

I'm learning to develop windows applications using WINAPI and plain C. Now I got a bit confused with all those handles and would like to ask if you guys could teach me some good practices to structure ...
  • 295
4 votes
6 answers
6k views

What's the simplest way to provide a portable, locally running webservice server application?

We have a large website running that offers a JsonRpc web service. For offline demonstration purposes, I want to realize a portable, locally running webserver with a minimalistic feature replication ...
  • 161
4 votes
1 answer
426 views

What should developers know about Windows executable binary file compression?

I'd never heard of this before, so shame on me, but programs like UPX can compress my files by 80% which is totally sweet, but I have no idea what the the disadvantages are in doing this. Or even ...
  • 6,897
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

How are new[] and malloc implemented in Windows? [closed]

So when you call malloc or new [] from your C/C++ application, how does the CRT translate it into Windows API calls?
  • 139
1 vote
4 answers
7k views

Should Android development be done on Windows or OSX? Is there any difference? [closed]

I have the option to install the Android SDK on Windows or OSX. Which platform provides a better (easier) development experience? To keep this constructive, I'm looking for any difference that ...
10 votes
2 answers
9k views

Where Should I Put Configuration Files?

I'm creating a project that I want to be able to distribute across platforms. I'm writing in Java and AWT which already gives me a pretty large range of devices, but I'm mostly interested in Windows ...
8 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why fewer IRQLs in 64-bit, even though an APIC has more interrupt lines?

As x86 computers shifted from 32-bit to 64-bit, they also shifted from using 8259-style Programmable Interrupt Controllers with 8 interrupt lines. (Or two multiplexed PICs for a total of 15 interrupt ...
  • 191
3 votes
4 answers
636 views

Public-private key pair handling on a Windows ecosystem

I've been thinking about how to architect an infrastructure for one of our business applications with the following requirement: Data written by some user can only be read by that user and his ...
  • 4,060
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is a good design strategy for retaining history of user activities and files like Visual Studio projects?

OK so I'm not so sure that "project" is the right term, but for my purposes, I define "project" as similar to what Visual Studio uses, or Microsoft word - files that the user can open and work on and ...
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Multi-threaded application design

I'm currently planning a Windows service. It will be a multi-threaded application which will continuously check for database records and process them. My first thoughts were to set a number of max ...
  • 211
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Windows Physical Direct Memory Mapping

I'm a bit disappointed there is almost no discussion of this no matter where I look so I guess I'll have to ask. I'm writing a cross platform memory bench marking application which requires direct ...
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is a Metro application installation restricted through Windows Store only?

I found that Windows 8 allows packaging and deploying of Metro applications and it can be installed by clicking on a ".bat" file. How will it technically be ensured that the applications can be ...
  • 133
3 votes
3 answers
559 views

Where should libraries be placed, in windows?

I have just moved from Linux to Windows, and I have to use the Zend Framework library. Where should the library be placed? Directly on C drive Create a lib folder like C:/lib/ Create a lib folder in ...
2 votes
1 answer
320 views

0.00006103515625 GB of RAM. Is .NET MicroFramework part of Windows CE?

The .NET MicroFramework claims to work on 64K RAM and has list of compatible targets vendors. At the same time, same vendors who ship hardware and create Board Support Packages (vendors like Adeneo) ...
user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why most use Cygwin and not Uwin?

Most academic researchers I know target just *nix, and rely on Cygwin to make their applications available on Windows. I have tried many of these projects and always found them too unstable for ...
-1 votes
1 answer
2k views

Win32 and Win64 programming in C sources? [closed]

I'm learning OpenGL with C and that makes me include the windows.h file in my project. I'd like to look at some more specific windows functions and I wonder if you can cite some good sources for ...
2 votes
7 answers
2k views

How to prevent piracy on software which is sold online? [closed]

When selling software online what's the most suitable/secure way to provide activation in order to get rid of pirates copies of the software? Is there any well-known software for this purpose?
  • 205
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

Using a DSN database connection is a bad practice?

During all my professional lifetime that I have been programming in Windows enviroments, I advised my friends and coworkers to not use a DSN database connection in their applications, based on my own ...
  • 687
3 votes
3 answers
657 views

Was API hooking done as needed for Stuxnet to work? I don't think so

Caveat: I am a political science student and I have tried my level best to understand the technicalities; if I still sound naive please overlook that. In the Symantec report on Stuxnet, the authors ...
19 votes
6 answers
4k views

INI files or Registry or personal files?

I want to save the configuration of my project which includes Screen size Screen position Folder paths Users settings and so on. The standard places where you can save these are configuration values ...
  • 1,469
1 vote
1 answer
412 views

Coding a web browser on Windows using a layout engine?

I've never attempted anything like this before but what I want to do is code a browser for Windows. I know that I can use the web-browser control that Microsoft has released, but I'm interested in ...
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to detect if an app was already installed before

How do software applications keep track of whether the user already installed the application before in it's Windows system? Say you install app X, trial version, remove it, then re install it, and ...
  • 143
6 votes
5 answers
3k views

If I were to start doing a GUI how do I decide on what platform to use? [closed]

I hear about WPF, Silverlight but then there is also windows RT, metro stuff, windows 8 and so on at the moment - I'm having a hard time nailing what to bet on. How do I, at a given point in time, ...
  • 187
2 votes
2 answers
227 views

Where do I start in regards to making a Gnome/Unity Form Application

Ok so I am familiar with developing Form and Console applications on Windows using Visual Studio .Net with C#, but where do I start when it comes to Linux distro's like Ubuntu, is there an equivalent? ...
  • 374
3 votes
4 answers
3k views

Ubuntu, OpenSuse, the world of linux for a web-developer

I'm learning web development. My main OS is windows 7 but I've used Linux and currently dual-booting with Ubuntu. My Linux knowledge however, is pretty limited. I can work with the command line on ...
0 votes
2 answers
294 views

Windows OS design decisions [closed]

I've seen an interview with Richard Stallman some time ago, and he was asked a question about security and Windows OS which he answered saying that there are some relatively bad design decisions that ...
  • 9
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

How Would I Start With Prolog? [closed]

If I wanted to start learning Prolog on Windows, is there any package that would integrate Prolog into Visual Studio 2010? That is, a compiler and templates and so forth for working with Prolog on ...
5 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to implement smart card authentication with a .NET Fat client? [closed]

I know very little about smart card authentication in general so please point out or correct me if anything below doesn't make sense. Lets say i have: A Certificate Authority "X"-s smart card (non-...
  • 1,479
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do large-scale applications handle GUI creation?

I'm interested in developing GUI-based Windows applications in C++, but I'm not sure how it's done in professional or large-scale settings. It seems it would take a lot of development time to describe ...
  • 37
1 vote
2 answers
278 views

How do I preview my mobile web application on a Windows 7 PC?

I am developing a mobile web application that may be browsed in an iPhone. I would like to test this application, but I lack a mobile web device. How can I test this mobile application on a Windows 7 ...
18 votes
13 answers
49k views

What are the practical uses of Windows Services? [closed]

I am new to working with Windows Services. Although I have learnt to create Windows Services in VS2010 I would like to know some practical ways in which windows services could be used? I tried ...
16 votes
10 answers
1k views

At what point should I have my Windows developers upgrade to the latest release of Windows?

At what point should I begin upgrading our developer's machines to a later Windows release? From experience, Microsoft typically has an epic fail about every other O.S. (I am really not trying to ...
5 votes
1 answer
994 views

Windows GUIs: How Long Will 'Deprecated' APIs Last? [closed]

Note I said 'deprecated' and not 'abstracted'. Back in the days of the MFC, the WinAPI wasn't deprecated because, from what I've read, the MFC merely abstracted the WinAPI. There's a difference, for a ...
  • 287
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Programmers clipboard monitor under Windows [closed]

In the process of adapting a "put on clipboard"-solution to new behavior I have found that I need a good programmers clipboard monitor for Windows. I do not need to have a history of items on the ...
user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
4k views

Computation Program Not Running at 100% CPU Utilization

I have a program which has a GUI and performs some very heavy mathematical computations for a couple of minutes and then outputs a result. When I try to directly interface it through its DLL's, it ...
  • 155
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

What are my options for selling software independently on Windows?

I am looking to port a tool from the Mac app store over to Windows, the platform where I spend most of my time these days. I've spoken with the author of the original app and we've begun talking about ...

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