User Experience Guidelines

The primary responsibility of any Control Panel item is to display a window that allows the user to view and manipulate settings. See Control Panels user experience (UX) guidelines for the WindowsВ Vista for the behavior and design of Control Panel items. The guidelines discussed in that topic show a task flow method of organizing a Control Panel item. This places the most important settings on a home page. Less frequently used settings are placed on spoke pages or accessed from links in a side pane.

The WindowsВ Vista Control Panel includes many Control Panel items that follow these guidelines, such as Windows Update, Ease of Access Center, or Network and Sharing Center. Other Control Panel items use the tabbed dialog property sheet format as in earlier versions of Windows. Examples include the Mouse item and Internet Options. Use of the property sheet format should be discontinued. If you create new Control Panel items for WindowsВ Vista, you should follow the task flow guidelines.

In the past, Control Panel items were packaged as .cpl files. That is no longer necessary. New Control Panel items should be implemented as a standalone .exe file or as a command-line flag option for the application’s main executable file.

NoteВ В On 64-bit systems, 32-bit Control Panel items are displayed in the Control Panel when the View 32-bit Control Panel Items folder option is selected. The 32-bit items must be located in the %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64 folder to be displayed. They do not require any further registration.

User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) for Windows 10 overview

Applies to

• Windows 10, version 1607

Many users customize their settings for Windows and for specific applications. Customizable Windows settings include Microsoft Store appearance, language, background picture, font size, and accent colors. Customizable application settings include language, appearance, behavior, and user interface options.

With User Experience Virtualization (UE-V), you can capture user-customized Windows and application settings and store them on a centrally managed network file share. When users log on, their personalized settings are applied to their work session, regardless of which device or virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) sessions they log on to.

With UE-V you can…

Specify which application and Windows settings synchronize across user devices

Deliver the settings anytime and anywhere users work throughout the enterprise

Create custom templates for your third-party or line-of-business applications

Recover settings after hardware replacement or upgrade, or after re-imaging a virtual machine to its initial state

With the release of Windows 10, version 1607, UE-V is included with the Windows 10 for Enterprise edition. If you are new to Windows 10 and UE-V or upgrading from a previous version of UE-V, you’ll need to download, activate, and install server- and client-side components to start synchronizing user-customized settings across devices.

Components of UE-V

The diagram below illustrates how UE-V components work together to synchronize user settings.

Component	Function
UE-V service	Enabled on every device that needs to synchronize settings, the UE-V service monitors registered applications and Windows for any settings changes, then synchronizes those settings between devices.
Settings packages	Application settings and Windows settings are stored in settings packages created by the UE-V service. Settings packages are built, locally stored, and copied to the settings storage location. The setting values for desktop applications are stored when the user closes the application. Values for Windows settings are stored when the user logs off, when the computer is locked, or when the user disconnects remotely from a computer. The sync provider determines when the application or operating system settings are read from the Settings Packages and synchronized.
Settings storage location	This is a standard network share that your users can access. The UE-V service verifies the location and creates a hidden system folder in which to store and retrieve user settings.
Settings location templates	UE-V uses XML files as settings location templates to monitor and synchronize desktop application settings and Windows desktop settings between user computers. By default, some settings location templates are included in UE-V. You can also create, edit, or validate custom settings location templates by managing settings synchronization for custom applications. NoteВ В Settings location templates are not required for Windows applications.
Universal Windows applications list	Settings for Windows applications are captured and applied dynamically. The app developer specifies the settings that are synchronized for each app. UE-V determines which Windows applications are enabled for settings synchronization using a managed list of applications. By default, this list includes most Windows applications. You can add or remove applications in the Windows app list by following the procedures in Managing UE-V Settings Location Templates Using Windows PowerShell and WMI.

Manage settings synchronization for custom applications

Use these UE-V components to create and manage custom templates for your third-party or line-of-business applications.

Component	Description
UE-V template generator	Use the UE-V template generator to create custom settings location templates that you can then distribute to user computers. The UE-V template generator also lets you edit an existing template or validate a template that was created with a different XML editor. With the Windows 10, version 1607 release, the UE-V template generator is installed with the Windows Assessment and Deployment kit for Windows 10, version 1607 (Windows ADK). If you are upgrading from an existing UE-V installation, you’ll need to use the new generator to create new settings location templates. Application templates created with previous versions of the UE-V template generator are still supported, however.
Settings template catalog	The settings template catalog is a folder path on UE-V computers or a Server Message Block (SMB) network share that stores the custom settings location templates. The UE-V service checks this location once a day, retrieves new or updated templates, and updates its synchronization behavior. If you use only the UE-V default settings location templates, then a settings template catalog is unnecessary. For more information about settings deployment catalogs, see Deploy a UE-V settings template catalog.

Settings synchronized by default

UE-V synchronizes settings for these applications by default. For a complete list and more detailed information, see Settings that are automatically synchronized in a UE-V deployment.

Microsoft Office 2016, 2013, and 2010

Internet Explorer 11 and 10

Many Windows applications, such as Xbox

Many Windows desktop applications, such as Notepad

Many Windows settings, such as desktop background or wallpaper

Note You can also customize UE-V to synchronize settings for applications other than those synchronized by default.

Что такое Windows Feature Experience Pack в Windows 10?

На днях Microsoft расширила доступность Windows 10 May 2020 Update для пользователей. Таким образом, больше пользователей могут установить версию 2004 и получить вместе с ней новый компонент «Windows Feature Experience Pack». Об данном пакете функций известно по крайней мере с декабря 2019 года, поэтому ожидалось, что Microsoft поделится подробной информации о нем по мере массового развертывания.

Мэри Джо Фоли, журналист портала из ZDNet, отправила запрос в Microsoft по поводу Feature Experience Pack. Официальный представитель компании был немногословен: «Microsoft нечего сказать по данному вопросу».

А что насчет неофициальных каналов? Мэри Джо Фоли удалось выяснить некоторую информацию про Windows Feature Experience Pack у своих источников.

Windows Feature Experience Pack перечислен в списке «Функции по запросу» для Windows 10 и Windows Server. В списке также присутствуют Internet Explorer, Блокнот, DirectX Configuration Database, Paint, PowerShell ISe, Быстрая помощь, консоль управления печатью и др. На странице Microsoft Docs указано, что Windows Feature Experience Pack доступен в Windows 10 версии 2004 и выше и «включает критически важную функциональность Windows». Microsoft рекомендует пользователям, не удалять данную коллекцию компонентов оболочки Windows, общий размер которой составляет 44,15 мегабайт.

Текущий Windows Feature Experience Pack не стоит путать с Windows Experience Pack для Windows XP, Vista и 7, которые предназначались для других целей. Новый пакет совмещает в себе функции, которые будут обновляться чаще, чем сама операционная система Windows 10. Windows Feature Experience Pack активирует набор функций Windows (не только изменения интерфейса), которые будут обновляться через Магазин Windows. Предполагается, что данную коллекцию приложений можно будет тестировать в связке, а не индивидуально.

На данный момент Windows Feature Experience Pack включает несколько приложений: обновленный «Набросок на фрагменте экрана», обновленная панель ввода текста и обновленный интерфейс подсказок оболочки. Ожидается, в будущем в Feature Experience Pack появится больше функций и компонентов оболочки Windows 10.

Уже некоторое время в Магазине Microsoft хранятся фиктивные пакеты Windows Feature Experience Pack для Windows 10 и Windows 10X. В описании версии для Windows 10 сообщается, что она работает со всеми версиями Windows и Xbox One. Напомним, что разработка Windows 10X в настоящее время затягивается, и компании занимается «переосмыслением» данной ОС для одноэкранных устройств.

Также существует предположение, что основная цель Windows Feature Experience Pack в долгосрочной перспективе — это отделение пользовательского интерфейса Windows 10 от базовой операционной системы Windows Core. Основная идея заключается в том, чтобы Microsoft могла переключать различные оболочки поверх базовой ОС в зависимости от используемого типа устройства Windows 10. Это еще в планах? Возможно, поскольку пакет Feature Experience Pack, по всей видимости, подключен к адаптивной оболочке Composable Shell.

Очень странно, что Microsoft не раскрывает предназначение данного пакета на устройствах Windows 10. В любом случае, при установке версии 2004, вы получите Windows Feature Experience Pack.

The Desktop Experience

The new WindowsВ 7 desktop brings your applications to life. Applications are now more discoverable, informative, and interactive. Modern and intuitive user interfaces are easier to develop with WindowsВ 7. New desktop and application experiences include the following:

• The enhanced taskbar introduces interactive thumbnails, and enables animation and interaction for minimized applications.
• The Destinations concept lets users jump with one click to the files, locations, or tasks that they use most frequently.
• New controls and APIs for the Ribbon, based on the Office Fluent UI, are available for easily adding Ribbon-style controls, menus, and galleries to your applications.
• An animation framework helps you enhance custom animations.

Enhancements to the gadgets platform enable applications to install companion gadgets during the setup or first-run experience.

The new WindowsВ 7 desktop brings your applications to life

Jump Lists—Getting Users into Your Application Quickly

Jump Lists help users get to where they want to go faster. Jump Lists are files, URLs, tasks, or custom items that open within the application. The new Jump Lists menu in the Start menu and taskbar makes common destinations and key tasks available with a single click. The Jump Lists menu is automatically populated based on how frequently and how recently items have been used. Developers can provide custom Jump Lists based on their own semantics. Applications can also define Tasks to appear in their menus—these are actions of the application that users want to access directly, such as composing an email. (See Taskbar Extensions and ICustomDestinationList Interface.)

Jump Lists help users get to where they want to go faster

Enhanced Taskbar

With the new taskbar in WindowsВ 7, applications can provide more information to the user in more intuitive ways. For example, applications can show progress bars in their taskbar buttons so that users can stay aware of progress without having to keep the window visible. This is useful for tracking time-consuming operations such as file copying, downloads, installations, or media burning. Icon overlays can be displayed on the lower-right area of the application’s taskbar button, and are used to communicate status or notifications (such as new mail). New thumbnail APIs enable an application to define child windows and corresponding thumbnail images for those windows. The thumbnail toolbar provides a place to control common actions without requiring window restoration, such as Play/Stop for media. (See Taskbar Extensions and Windows 7: Developer Resources.)

Gadgets Platform

Gadgets are a popular feature of the WindowsВ Vista desktop, and in WindowsВ 7, it is even easier for applications to install gadgets. In WindowsВ 7, an application can programmatically add a gadget to the Windows desktop during application setup or first run. This means that an application’s out-of-the-box experience can include a simple check box, for example, to install a companion gadget that is available on the desktop as soon as the application is ready to be used. (See Introduction to the Gadget Platform.)

In WindowsВ 7, it is even easier for applications to install gadgets

Windows Ribbon

The Windows Ribbon control helps developers improve usability by exposing your application’s most frequently accessed features directly to end-users. The Ribbon makes it easier for end-users to find and use application features because less functionality is hidden, leading to increased productivity. The Ribbon is designed as an intent-based alternative to the command presentation model of menus, toolbars, task panes, and dialog boxes in standard Windows-based applications.

The Ribbon controls consist of a set of Win32APIs that override the top-level menu bar functionality and render a ribbon-style command UI instead. It is similar in functionality and appearance to the Ribbon in the 2007 Office system. The UI is composed of several sub-controls that include the following:

• Application button (or pearl)
• Quick-access toolbar
• Ribbon control of contextual tabs
• Mini-toolbars
• Style galleries

Templates and markup authoring are available to developers for rapid development and integration of Ribbon functionality. (See Windows Ribbon Framework and Windows Ribbon Framework: Developer Resources.)

The Ribbon control helps developers improve usability by exposing your application’s most frequently accessed features

Animation

Smooth animations are fundamental to many graphical UI applications, and WindowsВ 7 introduces a native animation framework for managing the scheduling and execution of animations. The animation framework supplies a library of useful mathematical functions for specifying behavior over time and also lets developers provide their own behavior functions. The framework supports sophisticated resolution of conflicts when multiple animations try to manipulate the same value at the same time. An application can specify that one animation must be completed before another can start and can force completion within a set time. The new framework also helps animations determine appropriate durations. (See Windows Animation Manager.)