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] These libraries are also distributed as Windows System Files.

Microsoft Windows SDK

Developer(s)	Microsoft
Stable release	10.0.26100.1742 / September 26, 2024; 7 months ago (2024-09-26)
Operating system	Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Type	Application programming interface (API)
Website	developer.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/sdk-archive

The 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]

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]

Name	Version number	Build number	Release date	Download	Notes
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit	3.1	?	1992
Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit	3.11	?	?	?
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit	3.1	?	?
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit	3.5	3.50.612.1	1994-04
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit	3.51	?	1995-06
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit	4.0	4.0.1381.1	1996-11
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit	v5.0	5.0.1636.1	1998-06	?	Included in Visual Studio 6
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	?	5.0.2128.8	1999-09	,	MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc. Also known as Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows 2000 RC2. Includes Alpha to AXP64 cross toolset. Last Platform SDK to fully support Visual C++ 5.0
Microsoft Platform SDK January 2000	?	?	2000-01	?	MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.
Microsoft Platform SDK April 2000	?	5.0.2195.32	2000-04		MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc.
Microsoft Platform SDK November 2000	?	5.0.2296.5	2000-11		MSDN subscription CD-ROM disc. Also known as Microsoft Platform SDK for Whistler Beta 1. Includes preliminary tools for Itanium.
Microsoft Platform SDK February 2001	?	?	2001-02	?
Microsoft Platform SDK June 2001	v5.1	5.1.2505.0	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	v5.1	5.1.2601.0	2001-08	,	MSDN 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	v5.2	5.2.3590.2	2001-11
Microsoft Platform SDK May 2002	v5.2	5.2.3639.1	2002-05
Microsoft Platform SDK July 2002	v5.2	5.2.3663.0	2002-07
Microsoft Platform SDK August 2002	v5.2	5.2.3672.1	2002-08
Microsoft Platform SDK November 2002	v5.2	5.2.3718.1	2002-11
Microsoft Platform SDK February 2003	v5.2	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	v5.2	5.2.3790.1830.15	2005-05-02
Windows Server 2003 R2 Platform SDK	v5.2	5.2.3790.2075.51	2006-03-14		Last Platform SDK to develop for Windows 2000.[9] Also suggested by MS to work with VS6 with no guarantee as it has not been tested with specific requirements.[10]
.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[11]	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.[12]
Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4	v7.1	7.1.7600.0.30514	2010-05-19[13][14]	,	It is the latest version that officially supports Windows XP target. .NET Framework 4 needed. Higher sub-version from .NET Framework is not recognised by installation. Building the samples with nmake.exe is not supported, most of the NMAKE macros are removed.
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[15]		.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[16]
Windows Standalone SDK for Windows 10, Version 1511[17]	v10	10.0.10586.212	2015-11-30		Also included in Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 & 2[18]
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, version 1709	v10	10.0.16299.15	2017-10-10		Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.4
Windows 10 SDK for April 2018 Update, version 1803	v10	10.0.17134.0	2018-05-08		Included in Visual Studio 2017 ver.15.7
Windows 10 SDK for October 2018 Update, version 1809	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
Windows 10 SDK for Windows 10, version 2004	v10	10.0.19041.685	2020-12-16		Servicing update
Windows 10 SDK for Windows 10, version 21H1	v10	10.0.20348.0	2021-05-25
Windows 10 SDK for Windows 11	v10	10.0.22000.194	2021-10-04
Windows SDK for Windows 11	v10	10.0.22621.755	2022-10-25		Released as part of Windows 11, version 22H2. Includes servicing update 10.0.22000.755 on October 25, 2022, Includes ARM64 support for the Visual Studio 17.4 release
Windows SDK for Windows 11	v10	10.0.22621.1778	2023-05-24		Released as part of Windows 11, version 22H2 Build 10.0.22621.1778.
Windows SDK for Windows 11	v10	10.0.26100.0	2024-05-22		Initial release of the 10.0.26100 series, to correspond with the Windows 11, version 24H2 preview.

Removed features of Windows SDK

Version	Removed feature
Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1[19]	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[20]	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[21]	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[22]	Nothing
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 10	Nothing[23]

Documentation

The Windows SDK documentation includes manuals documenting:

• Desktop app development with Windows API and managed code
• Metro-style app development using Windows Runtime and Universal Windows Platform
• Web app development using ASP.NET, HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Language-related topics for C++, C#, Visual Basic.NET, F#, JavaScript, CSS and HTML, such as syntax and conventions (Windows PowerShell language is not covered.)

See also

• MSDN Library
• Windows Driver Kit
• Windows App SDK
• Windows 10 Version History