Windows 7 is now available to the public and anyone can buy and install Windows 7, whether for a new computer or an existing one. Soon, people from around the world will run your applications on Windows 7. They will expect the application to work and to feel as though it is a native Windows 7 application that takes advantage of new Windows 7 features and technologies like the Taskbar, libraries, touch, and sensors.

As Windows 7 approached GA, we continued to release new developer content to help you get up to speed with the new operating system. Now that it's here, Windows 7 GA is a great “excuse” for us to give you a quick update on all the Windows 7 developer content that is available to help you learn how to write a great Windows 7 application.

Below is a list of locations where you can find Windows 7 developer content.

Updated Windows 7 Training Kit – (Download it now)

To help you get your application onto Windows 7 as soon as possible, we updated the Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers. You can still find all the previous topics such as Taskbar, Sensor and Location, Libraries and Shell, Multitouch, Ribbon, etc. New to the kit are labs that work with VS2010 and use the new MFC improvements in VS2010 (download VS2010). We also added VB to all of our managed solutions – truly, no developer is left behind.

Windows 7 Online Training on Channel 9 Learning Center

Let’s assume you are interested in learning about Windows 7 libraries, or how to add some cool Taskbar functionality to your application, but you don’t want to download the entire training kit. Well with the Windows 7 Online Training Kit located on the Channel 9 Learning Center, you have immediate access to all Windows 7 learning units individually. Each learning unit (like the Taskbar) includes a few hands-on-labs and related videos. This gives you quick and easy access to most of our training material. For the rest of the content, like PowerPoint presentations and additional demos, you will have to download the Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers. The following image shows part of the managed code hands-on-lab for the Taskbar.

As always, the Windows 7 Topic Area on Channel 9 still features specific Windows 7 videos and screencasts. Over the past few weeks, we created new videos that I am sure you will find exciting and helpful, including a new Mark Russinovich video. As a friendly reminder, the last video Mark did, “Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7, was a Channel 9 blockbuster. If you haven't already viewed it, I highly recommend it, and make sure you see Mark’s new video Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7 Redux. Don’t forget to stay up-to-date with other topics:

• Using Windows 7 – Contains consumer- and user-related videos such as how to install Windows 7 and how to set up a home group network
• Programming Windows 7 – I don’t really need to explain what goes here, right?
• Last but not least, “Under the Hood” –Covers deep architectural Windows concepts

MSDN Developer Center

The MSDN Developer Center also received a “Windows 7 GA refresh” and now sports a new look and much improved functionality. The MSDN Developer Center includes a lot of Windows 7 material that extends the training content on available on Channel 9. You can think of the MSDN Developer Center as a hub for the Windows 7 content that will give you a great head start as you develop applications that will shine on Windows 7. You can find information about specific topics, review different programming models, learn about the developer tools that you can use, watch videos, and read blogs.

A New Book for Windows 7 Developers

Among the other things that you will find on the MSDN Developer Center, is a list of recommended Windows 7 books for developers. It turns out that over the past few months, I’ve been busy writing a Windows 7 book with three amazing co-authors: Laurence Moroney, Sasha Goldshtein, and Alon Fliess. Together, we wrote Introducing Windows 7 for Developers. It covers most of the exciting Windows 7 features like the Taskbar, Libraries, Sensor and Location, Multitouch (including new WPF 4 support with VS2010), and even Silverlight out of

browser (including touch :). As far as I know, this is the first Windows 7 developer book, and I hope you will find it useful. Mark Russinovich found this book helpful while integrating Windows 7 features with the Sysinternals tools and he wrote the foreword for this book.

I hope this list will help get you on your way to writing amazing Windows 7 applications.