Microsoft Shares Windows Vista Web Services Protocols

In a new initiative designed to be an integral part of its new found commitment and strategic focus on interoperability, Microsoft has announced that it is sharing the Windows Vista web services protocols with the Printer Working Group. In this manner, PWG, a program of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization, will benefit from the Microsoft Scan Service Definition Version 1.0. WS-Scan specifically refers to the web services protocols tailored to scanning peripherals. By sharing the Vista web services protocols, the Redmond company is effectively landing a helping hand to partners offering support for the building of products which will play well across a number of platforms.

"This collaboration is a response to customer and industry interest in having the WS-Scan Service Schema mapped directly to the PWG Scan semantic model," explained Jack Mayo, group program manager with the Windows Experience team at Microsoft. The way the Windows Vista operating system shares information with scanning peripherals is a process controlled via WS-Scan. In this regard the Web Services Protocols provide nothing more than a framework bridging the platform with scanning products.

"The benefit to customers will be making great scanning solutions for Windows-based interoperable with other platforms. The ability to make interoperable solutions will also greatly reduce the development burden on the PWG partner companies," Mayo added. By offering WS-Scan to the PWG, the Redmond company enables members of the printing industry to create solutions that will be interoperable with additional platforms, and not just Windows.

"Microsoft’s WS-Scan specification is a significant contribution to the Printer Working Group. It will greatly help us in our effort for industry wide standardization of networked multifunction device behaviors and capability representation," added Jerry Thrasher, PWG chair and senior standards engineer for Lexmark International. Over a year since the general availability of Windows Vista, and following the introduction of Service Pack 1, the latest Windows client enjoys an ecosystem of both hardware solutions and device products which is over 77,000 strong. Via the WS-Scan, Microsoft aims to rub off some of Vista interoperability on other platforms.

Source: news.softpedia.com