Secret software interfaces hidden in Windows and previously only available to Microsoft’s own developers have been exposed to the wider developer community. Using NSELib Namespace Extension Library, created by software engineering firm Whirling Dervishes, developers can create applications that reside in Windows Explorer.
Windows Explorer Secrets Exposed
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
>> Devos insisted that other interfaces that were uncovered should also have been part of the settlement, but are now available to the larger development community through NSELib.
And you still have to pay extra $799 for this sudden released API.
You must be kidding with me…
800$ is quite expensive for a stupid library. Anyway, I don’t need more integrated apps (although I know that it would be nice for some people).
Reading that Microsoft denied the existence of some of these things makes me smirk and remember back to the famous quote “There are no American tanks in Baghdad”.
Can’t you just picture Bill Gates stating “There are no hidden interfaces in Windows”
$799 HAHAHAHHAHAHA
Well, that’s nice and all, but I think I’ll stick to my well documented linux APIs thank you very much.
Just think how much it will cost to get the library for the spyware that’s built into Windows. It will likely cost a small fortune to obtain the interfaces to the Microsoft Advanced Spyware System (Microsoft ASS).
Still wondering why there are so few ISV’s writing new apps for Windows… how do you compete against Microsoft and their hidden API’s? And how do you compete when Microsoft just rips your ideas off, copies them, and then uses their monopoly power to crush your company?
Of course these days we know Microsoft gets all their product ideas by firing up their ASS on your computer, downloading all your secrets and then bombs your computer out with “Windows Update”.
Delphi user can actually download NSELib from:
http://www.torry.net/vcl/system/shell/nselib.zip
Its supposed to have a nag-screen and require online purchase / registration (which is where this $799 comes in) but I’m someone will crack it… they always do
“NSELib comes without runtime license. It’s a one time buy. Pay once, and you can use it and distribute the software that is based on it as much as you want.
You need one license per developer.
The regular price of NSELib is 799$. If you are on a low budget (for example shareware/freeware developers) contact [email protected] and we may come up with a solution.
You can currently only order the Delphi version.
The full source code will be delivered by email within 24 hours.”
May I draw peoples attention to the full source code delivery section.
NSELib is available for Delphi and Visual C++, priced at $799
Morons. Someone should tell them that the era of Windows bottom-feeders is over. Nobody will pay 800 dollars for their crappy library, and nobody really cares about undocumented Shell32 interfaces anymore (it made sense in the Windows 95 era, now it’s laughable and merely a matter of attitude). Even reversing the code of Windows or of a competing product is much cheaper than that
May I draw peoples attention to the full source code delivery section
This means that it will be floating around P2P nets in less than a month 🙂
I wonder what is in there that we dont know about
From the readme:
You can use this library to:
– Add system folders to Explorer, like the Control Panel,
– Make Explorer-style file viewers that display a hiearchical view
of a file inside the Explorer tree or in a separate window,
– Create your own protocol to be used in Internet Explorer.
Well, take a look at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sh… (it’s the second hit on Google for “namespace extensions site:microsoft.com”). Those “undocumented” APIs are documented for ages and are even included in the Windows SDK docs that come with Delphi.
Are there any “truth in advertising” laws where the company resides?
Still wondering why there are so few ISV’s writing new apps for Windows… how do you compete against Microsoft and their hidden API’s? And how do you compete when Microsoft just rips your ideas off, copies them, and then uses their monopoly power to crush your company?
Given the history of Sherlock/Watson and the Mac hacks to allow theming, menu additions, etc.. your statement could just as easily read:
Still wondering why there are so few ISV’s writing new apps for Macintosh… how do you compete against Apple and their hidden API’s? And how do you compete when Apple just rips your ideas off, copies them, and then uses their power to crush your company?
You are absolutely right. Apple is their own little Microsoft when it comes to their platform. Just as it is for Microsoft and writing Windows apps, competing against Apple is not a very smart business move.
Adobe is one company that is very pissed at Apple. And all the Mac music software vendors are not happy either. There will be a windfall of Windows music software programs because of Apple’s moves to shut down the pro audio market.
Ultimately it is very difficult to see Apple’s reasoning. What could have been a safe haven from Microsoft’s monopoly is nothing more than Apple’s private shark tank. From a business sense, Apple has resigned itself to having very few ISV’s for their platform. It’s one thing when you are the biggest software company on Earth. It’s another thing when you are mostly a hardware maker. Only time will tell if this was a good move on Apple’s part.
Isn’t explorer integrated into the kernel?
I’m impressed. The Windows kernel has a lot of features. Wonder when will it get tabbed browsing.
I second that, even I, who has stopped developping for this fake OS since win3.1 saw this page one day, quite long ago.
It’s true that M$ hides many things, but for once this one isn’t part of the hidden APIs
Or maybe someone just reconfigured the Matrix ?
(hmmm: no, forget it, you want Clippy in the kernel !)
ATTENTION MICHEAL:
Trolling has been cancalled on this site. Please kindly update your bookmarks to http://bsd.slashdot.org.
Any future trolls may result in the unleashing of the “FBI Technology” (TM).
Isn’t explorer integrated into the kernel?
Yeah, that’s why the task manager shows “explorer.exe” as a running task (rolls eyes in disgust). I hate trolls who don’t even bother to attempt to say something even remotely close to the truth.
I’m impressed. The Windows kernel has a lot of features. Wonder when will it get tabbed browsing.
Mozilla, Phoenix, MyIE2, AvantBrowser, IE++, etc…
Isn’t explorer integrated into the kernel?
No.
I used some of these interfaces years ago. Some are very badly documented for sure, and I guess the “taskpanes” stuff wasn’t documented (but it didn’t exist back then either) but the shell interfaces were definately there.
I have personally written such a namespace extension. The APIs are documented to an extent in MSDN, and there are one or two books that document some of this stuff. Problem is the standard of documentation Microsoft has released is quite poor, and there are some bugs in the APIs. Namespace extensions are just COM objects that sit inside explorer. It is reasonably well documented how to register and attach these, and the COM interfaces have reasonable documentation. This library is no doubt helpful in writing such extensions, but free alternatives exist, and this company is clearly trying to make headlines in an attempt to sell an overpriced product that offers no real value when you consider the cost in time of engineering such a product yourself.