Optional Components You Can Install 

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There are a number of tools and components that can help developers and administrators work more efficiently, or that can add capabilities to applications. The following table describes these tools and components. Click the component name for installation instructions.

  • Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
    Transfers files asynchronously between a client and a server, and provides information about the progress of the transfers.
  • CAPICOM
    Enables applications to offer cryptographic and other security-related services.
  • Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)
    Integrates the Group Policy functionality of several tools into a single console so that administrators can perform core Group Policy tasks without needing multiple tools.
  • Rights Management Services (RMS)
    Helps safeguard digital information from unauthorized use—both online and offline, inside and outside of the firewall.
  • Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
    Provides a programming platform for creating and hosting applications that manage Microsoft Windows-based environments, and provides an integrated management user interface and administration model.
  • Windows Installer
    Installs your applications efficiently, and can provide your product with capabilities to advertise features without installing them, to install products on demand, and to add user customizations.
  • Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
    Provides a standardized way to manage your computer system, including your local computer and all the computers in an enterprise.
  • Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
    Improves hardware management in a network environment that includes various devices that run a variety of operating systems.
  • Windows Update Agent (WUA)
    Enables system administrators and programmers to access Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to determine which updates should be applied to a computer, to download those updates, and to install them with little or no user intervention.
  • Real-Time Communications (RTC)
    Provides documentation, sample code, and other tools that enable developers to build real-time communication applications, or to integrate real-time communication functionality into existing applications.
  • Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
    Enables system administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates, and to fully manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft Update to computers in their network.

See Also

Concepts

Welcome to the Windows SDK
What's New in the Windows SDK
Samples and Tutorials for the Windows SDK
Installation Instructions for the Windows SDK