Windows Protocols
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This documentation contains detailed technical specifications for Microsoft protocols that are implemented and used by Windows to interoperate or communicate with other Microsoft products. It also contains technical specifications for extensions to industry-standard and other published protocols that are used by Windows. In addition, the documentation includes a set of companion technology overview and reference documents that supplement the technical specifications with conceptual background, overviews of inter-protocol relationships and interactions, and technical reference information.
Although the Open Specifications technical documents are freely available, many of them include patented inventions. Some of these patents are available at no charge under the Open Specifications Promise or the Microsoft Community Promise. The remaining patents are available through various licensing programs. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Open Specifications Dev Center or send an email message to the IP Licensing Team.
Explore Windows Protocols Documentation
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Provides information about the protocols and other technologies that are included in the Windows Protocols documentation set and the relationships among those technologies. |
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Windows Technical Specifications Provides detailed technical specifications for Microsoft proprietary protocols (including extensions to industry-standard or other published protocols) and other technologies that are used by Windows to communicate with other Microsoft products. |
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Provides reference documents that are available for use with the Windows Protocols documentation set. |
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What's New and Changed in Windows Documents Provides information about and links to new and updated protocol documents that contain details about the most recently released versions of Windows Client and Windows Server operating systems. |
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Provides preliminary versions of new or updated Open Specifications technical documents for community review and feedback. |
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Provides clarifications and adjustments of content issues in published versions of protocol documents that could impact an implementation. |
Forums and Blogs
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These user forums are available to answer technical questions about the Open Specifications documents. |
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These blogs, authored by the engineers who support the Open Specifications documents, provide a different venue for further discussion of those documents. |
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Downloads |
Sites |
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Windows Protocols PDF .zip file (600+ MB) |
Open Specifications Developer Center FAQ: Network Captures for Technology Overview Documents Windows Protocols Archived Forums |