Vista Software Product Engineering Services

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Microsoft NXT Delivery Partner , Calsoft Labs provides value-added products and services that harness the full capabilities of the new Windows Vista platform. Calsoft Labs provides software product engineering services to ISVs in the following two areas:

• Product Reengineering
• Driver Reengineering

Calsoft Labs has been providing Windows Reengineering and Driver Development services to technology companies for over a decade. Servicing customers such as Agilent, EMC, HP, Nortel, Symbol, and Samsung as well as a number of mid-sized and startup technology firms, Calsoft Labs has the expertise and experience to deliver quality products on-time and on-budget.

Product Reengineering

Calsoft Labs offers software engineering services for ISVs in the following areas for new product development and existing product compatibility/porting to Windows Vista:

• Vista User Experience
  • Application migration to use the new Windows Presentation Foundation. Advantages of WPF include new Aero interface, integrated support for UI, media, documents, 2D and 3D animation, data-binding and styling.
  • Redesigning applications to use the new XAML framework. Expertise in Microsoft Expression and GraphicsWorks.
• Architectural Reengineering
  • Migrating to WCF (Indigo) framework for secure, reliable, transacted and interoperable messaging as a basis for Service-Oriented-Architecture.
  • Integrating P2P discovery.
  • Redesigning applications to use Windows Workflow Foundation for extensible, model-based workflow engine.
  • Compliance with User Access Control for identity, authorization and access control.
• Application Integration
  • Integrating Desktop search to applications - use of search-aware controls and rich document previews.
  • Integrating your own custom file formats.
  • Consuming RSS feeds in applications.
  • Integrating UAP security feature in your applications.
  • Integrating sidebar gadgets in your applications.

Driver Reengineering

Windows Vista introduces a number of changes that affect the way in which drivers work. Drivers that were created for the earlier versions of Windows might require updates to solve the compatibility problems with Windows Vista. Calsoft Labs provides driver re-engineering solutions for OEMs and ISVs in the following areas to make the drivers Vista compatible:

• Driver Installation
  • Updating drivers to install properly in the UAP mode of Windows Vista.
  • Modifying installation packages to eliminate non-system driver files.
  • Modifying the installations to quit gracefully in the absence of user consent or the right credentials.
• Driver Loading
  • Signing catalog files for 64-bit drivers by using a PIC or WHQL signed catalog.
• Driver Functionality
  • Updating user-mode drivers to rewrite the UI to be run in Session 1 or higher.
  • Modifying 64-bit drivers that depend on the registry reflection behavior to accommodate the ownership of registry keys.
• Windows Vista Logo Compliance
  • Digital Signing.
  • Complying with I/O completion/cancellation guidelines.
  • Using plug-n-play API for software-first installation processes.
  • Properly formatted INF for device classes.
  • Providing both 32-bit and 64-bit drivers.
• Audio Drivers
  • Modifying the drivers to eliminate deprecated DDI calls.
  • Content-protect signing for premium content.
  • Complying with UAA.
  • Implementing audio drivers as WaveRT miniport drivers.
  • DRM support.
• Display Drivers
  • pdating drivers to conform to the WDDM to support the full graphics capabilities of Vista.
• Network Drivers
  • Porting drivers to NDIS 6.0 specifications for Windows Vista certification.
  • Upgrading drivers to eliminate the deprecated routines of NDIS 5.0.
  • Using Native Wi-Fi driver model for WLANs.
• Printing and Imaging Drivers
  • Rewriting the services associated with printer drivers to display UI in the user's session. Vista does not allow the display of UI in Session 0.
  • Supporting XPSDrv architecture.
  • Updating print monitors to implement the new interfaces.
• Storage Drivers
  • Complying with Vista logo requirements.
  • Implementing filter drivers as mini port drivers.
• Streaming Media Drivers
  • Rewriting streaming drivers to eliminate the use of Video Port Extensions.
  • Rewriting the drivers to handle protected content.

For more information on Calsoft Labs’s Windows Vista Software Product Engineering Services, please call (925) 249 3001 or email info@cswl.com.