Devices and Printers in Windows7: Frequently Asked Questions - 2

Devices and Printers in Windows7: Frequently Asked Questions - 2

Devices and Printers in Windows7: Frequently Asked Questions

November 24, 2009

Abstract

This paper provides information about Devices and Printers and its user interface for the Windows® 7 operating system. It is intended primarily for independent hardware vendors (IHVs) and original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) and addresses topics that are of interest to both hardware and software developers.

This information applies to the Windows 7 operating system.

References and resources discussed here are listed at the end of this paper.

For the latest information, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/deviceexperience/DevPrintFAQ.mspx

Disclaimer:

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

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Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, email address, logo, person, place or event is intended or should be inferred.

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Device Stage, MSDN, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Document History

Date / Change /
November 24, 2009 / Added two references to third-party icon creation/conversion tool on pages 11 and 24
June 12, 2009 / First publication

Contents

Introduction 3

Devices and Printers 6

Authoring Device Metadata 11

Using Device Metadata 13

Devices and Printers Extensibility 15

Devices and Printers User Interface 18

Unified Device Pairing and Bluetooth Support 21

Resources 23

Introduction

This FAQ provides answers to a range of common questions about Devices and Printers in Windows®7. For convenience, the following list provides links to the questions.

Devices and Printers

What is Devices and Printers?

What is Device Stage?

What types of devices appear in Devices and Printers?

What tasks are available to users in Devices and Printers?

How can users open Devices and Printers?

What has Microsoft done to make Devices and Printers discoverable?

How does Devices and Printers differ from Device Stage?

How does Devices and Printers differ from Device Manager?

Can users interact with devices that do not have metadata?

Must I provide device metadata before my device functions correctly in Windows?

Must my device have metadata before it appears in Devices and Printers?

Which devices should I support with metadata, and which are most important to users?

Authoring Device Metadata

What information is part of the device metadata?

Who specifies hardware IDs for a device?

What are the requirements for photorealistic icons?

I do not have an icon file for my device, but I have photos and images of it. What should I do?

Will Windows rescale the icon that appears in the Devices and Printers interface?

Can ISVs and other third parties customize or leverage the device icons that the device OEM or IHV submitted?

What is the “primary category”?

What is the maximum number of characters in the DeviceDescription1 and ModelName elements?

In the device metadata, can I include a URL link for users to download drivers?

Can I combine the DeviceDescription1 and DeviceDescription2 elements to show a single sentence?

Using Device Metadata

What file format does a device metadata package use?

Where are the metadata packages stored on a system?

How do I open a .devicemetadata-ms file?

How is device metadata installed on a machine?

What is WMIS?

How do I submit device metadata to be posted on WMIS?

Can I change, update, or remove device metadata that is stored on WMIS?

What are the logo requirements for device metadata?

Can I test a device metadata package before I submit it to Winqual?

Do you have a validation tool that I can use to check a device metadata file before I submit it to Winqual?

After users install software for my device, can I refresh the software after I define the device metadata?

Can users uninstall device metadata packages and use a newer version instead?

Devices and Printers Extensibility

How do users interact with devices that appear in Devices and Printers?

Can I assign device tasks as part of the device metadata?

How do I add Properties pages to a device?

Can I pass device instance information to a task link in a shortcut menu?

Can I add a command button in Devices and Printers?

In the Device Properties dialog box, does Devices and Printers support adding a custom URL (such as a URL to my Web page for a specific device)?

Is the DeviceCategory element extensible? For example, can I define a new primary or secondary functional category for my device?

Is the “Resolve Problem" option automatic?

Can I hide or modify an interface shortcut menu item for a specific hardware ID?

Will shortcut menu extensibility create a problem if IHVs create long menus?

Devices and Printers User Interface

Why does my device appear in Devices and Printers as a generic, white icon that looks like a small refrigerator?

Why do document writers appear in the Devices and Printers UI?

Why does a document writer look like a printer in Devices and Printers?

In Devices and Printers, can users remove or hide a device icon?

For computers, the text under the icon uses the Computer Name chosen that users chose during OOBE. Why does the name that I defined in the metadata package not appear instead?

If my device has an embedded hub, how can I show the hub as a separate device in Devices and Printers?

Can I show the child device of a composite device as a separate device?

Why do different device categories appear in the Details view of Devices and Printers?

Why does my USB hub/switch not appear in Devices and Printers?

What is the yellow exclamation mark that appears on some icons in Devices and Printers?

What is the check mark that appears in the upper-left corner of some of the icons in Devices and Printers?

Can I dynamically change the icon in Devices and Printers, based on device state?

If IHVs create long menus, does this cause problems with shortcut menu extensibility?

Unified Device Pairing and Bluetooth Support

What is Bluewire, and how is it related to Devices and Printers?

Does Devices and Printers work only with standard wireless protocols?

Can I configure devices by using Wi-Fi settings?

Are 802.1x devices supported?

Which metadata category should I use for a proprietary wireless adapter?

Does Windows 7 support any new Bluetooth profiles?

How can I integrate a proprietary wireless pairing into the Add a Device Wizard or Devices and Printers?

Can I plug in a custom Bluetooth stack to be used with the Bluewire pairing wizard?

Does Microsoft have any plans to support 802-encapsulated protocols that support pairing for other devices?

What about environments with multiple access points, such as a dorm or an apartment?

When users employ the Add a Device Wizard and see a device before they pair it, can they obtain more information about the device before it appears in Devices and Printers?

Does Windows 7 include more support for HID usages?

Devices and Printers

What is Devices and Printers?

Devices and Printers makes it easy for users to view and use the devices that are connected to their computer. Users can open Devices and Printers in two ways: through Control Panel or by clicking the Start button.

As devices become increasingly complex, a single device can include multiple functions. In Devices and Printers, multiple functions appear as part of a single device, so users can discover device capabilities and custom software without searching for them.

Device vendors can create custom device metadata that describes a device. In this device metadata package, vendors can provide a photorealistic icon, device descriptions, and custom behaviors (such as whether the device icon is unavailable when the device is disconnected). They then submit the device metadata package to Microsoft, where the package is validated and available for download from Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS).

When users connect a device, the information in the vendor’s metadata package appears in Devices and Printers. Device vendors can update the device metadata on WMIS. If users have not opted out of automatic updates, a newer version of the metadata is automatically downloaded and appears in Devices and Printers.

Devices and Printers enables simple, unified wireless pairing for devices. A new Add a Device Wizard that users can start from Devices and Printers leads them through the pairing process. After the process is complete, users see the wireless device in Devices and Printers.

For more information on device metadata, refer to the white papers in “Resources” later in this paper.

Figure 1 shows a typical Devices and Printers UI.

Figure 1. Devices and Printers UI

What is Device Stage?

Device Stage™ provides a new way for users to interact with devices. Windows 7 supports a new set of schemas through which device vendors can provide rich branding and customization of the Device Stage user interface (UI). Computer OEMs can also create a custom Device Stage UI for their system.

The Device Stage UI follows the model of any shell view in Windows. Users can view Device Stage devices in two ways: though Devices and Printers or by using the Windows taskbar. To open Device Stage, users double-click a supported device or computer in Devices and Printers. The Device Stage UI also allows users to access the enhanced Windows 7 taskbar functionality that includes jump lists. When a device that supports Device Stage is plugged in, an icon of the actual device appears on the new Windows taskbar in Windows 7. To quickly access all tasks that for a specific device through Device Stage, users can right-click the device icon to see all device-specific applications and services through a jump list.

For portable devices, Device Stage also provides a multifunction version of AutoPlay.

Figure 2 shows a typical Device Stage UI.

Figure 2. Device Stage UI

What types of devices appear in Devices and Printers?

The computer itself, plus all externally connected devices, including the following:

·  USB, 1394, and PCMCIA.

·  All printers (regardless of how they are connected).

·  Bluetooth and Wireless USB.

·  Network connected devices that support Plug and Play Extensions (PnP-X).

·  All externally connected Plug and Play devices.

·  Document writers.

For more information, see “Why do document writers appear in Devices and Printers?” later in this paper.

Devices that are connected to the computer through legacy ports or analog connections do not appear in Devices and Printers, such as the following:

·  Analog speakers.

·  PS/2 mice and keyboards.

·  Scanners that are connected through a parallel port.

NoteAll printers appear regardless of connection type because Windows 7 enumerates printers through the printing subsystem. Therefore, even a printer that is attached to the computer through a parallel port appears in Devices and Printers.

What tasks are available to users in Devices and Printers?

The tasks that users can do depend on the device. For example, the list of tasks that the user can do with a mouse differs from what they can do with a multifunction printer. Therefore, this question does not have a single answer.

Even among multifunction printers, the list of tasks that users can perform differs because the internal composition of the each printer differs.

Windows provides numerous inbox tasks that target common device functionality. For example, Windows provides the same inbox tasks for any type of printer device.

Several device-related tasks in Control Panel are also mapped to specific device functionality in Devices and Printers. For example, the Mouse task in Control Panel is available as a task for mouse devices in Devices and Printers. As long as the device contains the targeted functionality, the associated task appears in the list of tasks that users can do with the device.

Finally, device vendors can extend the list of tasks that users can perform for specific devices by specifying that an application start when users double-click the device.

How can users open Devices and Printers?

Beginning with the beta release of Windows 7, Devices and Printers is on the Start menu.

Users can also open Devices and Printers from Control Panel in the following ways:

·  Under Hardware and Sound, click View devices and printers.

·  Click Hardware and Sound. On the Hardware and Sound page, click Devices and Printers at the top of the page.

·  Click View by: and then click Large icons or Small icons. When the Control Panel page is refreshed, click Devices and Printers from the icon list.

What has Microsoft done to make Devices and Printers discoverable?

Beginning with the beta release of Windows 7, Devices and Printers appears on the Start menu by default.

How does Devices and Printers differ from Device Stage?

Devices and Printers and Device Stage are separate features that are designed to work together. They both build on the new multifunction device support in Windows7. Also, they both benefit from the same device metadata and distribution framework that is also new in Windows 7.