As Windows Vista continues to inch forward, Microsoft is increasing its outreach to independent software vendors (ISVs) – even the smallest one- to three-person firms -- in the hopes of convincing them to write applications for the next version of Windows.

The latest Vista evangelism push is code-named "Project Glidepath." Glidepath is the name of both the program and the Visual Studio 2005-related components and technology for building applications for Windows Vista and .Net Framework 3.0

Microsoft is planning to launch officially the Glidepath program on July 15 at the Shareware Industry Conference. At the conference Microsoft will "unveil details about an exciting opportunity Project Glidepath will provide to help your MicroISV become 'rich and famous,'" according to the Microsoft Project Glidepath Web site.

"Project Glidepath is a MicroISV Evangelism program that delivers the workflow-based guidance, sample code, content and technology you need to create successful applications for Windows Vista," according to the Microsoft Web site. "Project Glidepath is designed to provide the knowledge you, as a MicroISV, need to be successful by providing step-by-step instructions for everything from how to get started with Windows Presentation Foundation to how to write and publish a press release," the site continues.

MicroISVs, in Microsoft parlance, are one- to three-person software-development firms.

Glidepath is part of Microsoft's Software Factory initiative – a Microsoft initiative about which the company has said relatively little during the past year. Software factories are chunks of code designed to serve as foundations for programming projects.

Glidepath code packets can be downloaded via RSS into developers' software factories. Developers can write Glidepath components upon which other programmers can build and/or simply use Glidepath packages to build their own standalone apps, according to information on Microsoft's site.

Microsoft has started making regularly updated test builds of the first Glidepath code samples available for download. Microsoft posted for download on July 3 the latest Glidepath code, templates and documentation, which it designated version 1.9.

Bottom line: Microsoft isn't looking only to the SAPs, Mercedes Benzes and North Faces for Vista killer apps. The Glidepath team is wagering that it just as well could be one of the little guys who end up writing the must-have Vista app.