With the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP), Windows Vista is, says Microsoft, feature-complete. While there will definitely be smoothing of rough edges and a whole lot of tinkering over the next months, we now know the general shape of the Vista to come. As a result, it makes sense to start contemplating new apps that take advantage of the OS. And that makes it a good time to look at WinFX.

WinFX is a new managed code API based on and extending the .NET Framework. It's a toolset that gives you access to the so-called three pillars of Vista: the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF, formerly known as Avalon), the Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF), and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF, formerly code-named Indigo).

Naturally, since Vista is still in beta, so is WinFX, but Microsoft is confident enough in it to have released the latest version with a GoLive license, so applications you build with it can be deployed in a production environment. Bear in mind, however, that there's no support, except what you can find from fellow users in online forums. Betting the farm on an application is not the best of ideas. Also be aware that, like any beta product, it may change before the final version is released, so be prepared for some rewriting if you want to bring your app up to the shipping version of WinFX.

Microsoft Canada's senior product manager, developer solutions, Jeff Zado said, "The three pillars make [Vista development] easier for developers. WinFX consolidates them into one package to give them the best of all worlds. It lets organizations focus on their business, and lets the plumbing be taken care of by WinFX."

WinFX contains class libraries to help developers make good use of the pillars in a familiar programming environment; Visual Studio 2005 is, of course, the preferred tool. It contains features that Microsoft says will eliminate those pesky buffer overruns and other common programming errors. That will help make applications more stable and secure. WinFX contains tools to assist with deployment and updates, and it contains InfoCard, Vista's identity management component.