Appendix B: Product Distribution Issues

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In order for a bundled package of applications (e.g. a "suite") to qualify for certification, each individual product in that suite must be tested to comply with the Application Specification. (Note that value-add extras may be exempted, see below.) Individual products within the suite that are marketed separately may also be eligible to carry the logo.

For individual standalone products as well as suites that include those products to qualify to carry the logo:

  • Each individual product that is intended to be marketed separately must pass certification testing. You should submit the standalone version of each product for compliance testing. VeriTest will test these products for full logo compliance.
  • The "suite integration" version must also be submitted for testing and will be tested as follows:
    • This version will be tested only for install, uninstall, file type associations, and advertising, provided that all individual components of the suite have been tested individually.
    • If there are additional products that have not been tested as standalone versions, they will be tested in this version.
    • If you have multiple editions of suites, you need only test the all inclusive version. Provided all other suite versions are subsets of the version you have tested, each of these other suites may carry the logo, once the all inclusive suite is tested. You must list the name of each edition of the suite and list the components on the Logo License Agreement.

Note   The final determination of whether or not a product is a suite will be made by VeriTest.

Inclusion of non-compliant extras

All components inside a package that bears the Certified for Windows logo must be compliant with the Application Specification for Windows 2000, with the following minor exceptions:

  • Non-compliant value-add extras, such as samples, trial versions of additional applications and other promotional items may be included in the package
  • Minor non-compliant auxiliary applications may be included, provided that your core application does NOT depend on them for its functionality

These exceptions may be granted provided that:

  • The non-compliant components are not advertised on product packaging or other marketing collateral, unless they are called out specifically as being non-logo compliant
  • The non-compliant products are documented in the release notes (e.g. "readme" document) as being non-compliant; if your application has no release notes, then you must document this prominently in your product documentation
  • These non-compliant components must be documented in the Vendor Questionnaire that you submit to VeriTest
  • One of the following conditions must be true:
    • The user is notified during install if any non-compliant components are being installed
    • The non-compliant products are on a separate CD from the core product and require completely separate installation mechanism (e.g., they are not accessible from the main install screen or any subsequent screens stemming from it; the user must launch a separate install process for these non-complaint applications.)
    • The non-compliant components are on the same CD as the core product, but require a completely separate installation mechanism