What Are the Standards?

I consider the following sources to be the standards for Windows user interface design.

Designing for the User Experience

These guidelines (formerly called The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design) cover user interface design principles, basic design concepts, visual design, the Windows environment, mouse and keyboard input, interaction techniques, windows, menus, toolbars, dialog boxes, controls, message boxes, online help, and Windows environment integration. This book is the single best source of Windows user interface information there is.

Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications

This manual is a valuable reference that can help you make sure you're using the right terminology in your interfaces. While this manual is geared primarily for technical writers and not programmers, much of its information applies to the text in user interface elements such as dialog boxes, message boxes, menus, tooltips, status bars, and online help. Since text is a vital part of every user interface, using the right terms is critical to the clarity and consistency of the interface.

While I discuss this subject in detail in Chapter 3, note that the terminology used to describe many common Windows elements is different for programmers than for users. (Don't ask me how this happened.) For example, while programmer documentation refers to combo boxes, radio buttons, and subdirectories, user documentation refers to boxes ("combo" is never used), option buttons, and folders.

The Designed for Microsoft Windows Logo Requirements

The Designed for Microsoft Windows logo requirements are a set of requirements your program must satisfy to receive the Designed for Microsoft Windows logo. The specific requirements vary depending upon the type of program, but they are all geared toward making sure that your program integrates well with the Windows environment. They also help you provide optimum usability and ensure a consistent, accessible user interface.

Among the requirements are that your program must

• Use the Win32 application programming interface (API) and be in the Portable Executable (PE) format.
• Run in all current versions of Windows and Microsoft Windows NT.
• Use the registry and not the WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI files.
• Register both large and small icons for each file type used.
• Use system colors and metrics.
• Use the right mouse button for context menus and nothing else.
• Provide a setup program with complete uninstall capabilities, including automated setup and uninstallation.
• Reduce the chance of dynamic-link library (DLL) version conflicts by not installing globally shared DLLs in the Windows system directories.
• Support long filenames and universal naming convention (UNC) paths.
• Automatically add an extension when necessary before saving a file.
• Support hard drive volumes larger than 2 GB in size.
• Support users who upgrade from one version of Windows to another.
• Support accessibility by being compatible with the High Contrast option, providing keyboard access to all features, providing notifications of the keyboard focus location to support the Windows Magnifier, and providing customizable fonts and user interface timings.

While much of this information is covered in Designing for the User Experience, the Designed for Microsoft Windows logo requirements have much more detailed information specifically for programmers. The most important thing to understand about the logo requirements is that their goal is to make sure that your program integrates well with Windows and other applications. They are not arbitrary hoops you need to jump through.

I highly recommend that you review the logo requirements even if you could care less about using the Designed for Microsoft Windows logo. The new logo requirements form an amazing document that catalogs many guidelines to help make sure that your program integrates well with Windows. The information is useful, specific, and programmer-oriented. There is simply no better single source for this type of information.

TIP

---

You should review the Designed for Microsoft Windows logo requirements, even if you could care less about obtaining the logo.