Choosing a Build Environment

The Windows Driver Kit (WDK) contains a variety of build environments for different operating systems and processors. These environments are all named for the binaries that they build, not the operating system that the build occurs on. For example, choose one of the Windows XP build environments to create drivers for Windows XP systems.

For information about how to build a driver that can run on multiple versions of Windows, see Best Practices for Using WDK Header Files.

With one exception, you can use any build environment on any computer. For example, you can use the Windows XP build environments on a Windows Server 2003 computer to build binaries that will run on Windows XP. Or you can use the Windows Server 2008 Itanium-based build environment on a Windows Vista Professional computer with an x86 processor to build binaries that will run on an Itanium-based computer with Windows Server 2008.

The one exception is that you cannot build 16-bit binaries (such as virtual device drivers or boot loaders) on an Itanium computer or an x64-based computer. When you install the WDK on a 64-bit computer, the 16-bit build environments will not be available during installation.

Note   If you are building a driver for the Windows XP x64-based platform, use the Windows Server 2003 x64 build environments. The Windows Server 2003 x64 build environments also support the Windows XP x64-based platform.

 

 

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Build date: 5/3/2011