Users don't buy operating systems for operating systems' sake; they buy them for the applications that run on them.

Given that truism, it's not too early to wonder about the whereabouts of Windows-Vista-optimized apps.

Microsoft will have showcase applications ready in time for the Vista launch, which is still set for January 2007, company officials said. But given recent lawsuits and public disagreements with the likes of Symantec and Adobe Systems – two of Microsoft's biggest independent software vendor (ISV) partners – which vendors are likely to be leading the Vista charge?

Microsoft has demonstrated its Max photo-sharing prototype application that is fine-tuned for Vista, and sources have said the company is building a comparable, Vista-optimized music-making app code-named "Monaco." But where are the third-party apps that are going to make Vista a must-have vs. a nice-to-have platform?

A whole new crop of application developers could emerge as the first wave of Vista supporters, said Vic Gundotra, general manager of developer platform and evangelism for Microsoft.

In August 1995, when Microsoft launched Windows 95, ISVs were jostling to be the first to take advantage of new Windows features, such as Plug and Play support, a richer graphics palette, and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), said Gundotra.

"In some ways, with Vista, we'll see the same dynamic, with companies like SAP and traditional line-of-business folks who will show how, with Vista, they can radically improve the user interface," Gundotra said.

But with Vista, there also will be a "new class of ISV," Gundotra said, including companies like Mercedes-AMG and The New York Times. "Back in 1995, we wouldn't have even called them ISVs."

For customers like these, "their primary touch point is the Internet, Gundotra said. And they are building Web sites running on Vista and using the associated WinFX development technologies to demonstrate the improvements in security, Web support and underlying communications technologies that Vista will bring, he said.

WinFX, Microsoft's new Windows programming model that will be introduced with Vista, includes the technologies of greatest potential interest to software developers. These are Windows Presentation Foundation ("Avalon"), the presentation subsystem; Windows Communication Foundation ("Indigo"), the underlying Web services/communications technologies, Windows Workflow Foundation ("WinOE"), the built-in collaboration/workflow technologies; and InfoCard, Microsoft's client-side digital-identity technology.

Microsoft launched last week a new "See Vista" marketing Web site that shows off nearly 20 prototype applications developed by customers and partners. Among the highlighted applications are a virtual sports-car test-drive site created by Mercedes-AMG; a rare-books reader developed by the British Library; a health-monitoring application created by Allscripts Healthcare Solutions; and a CRM application developed by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.

Microsoft also holds up the recently launched New York Times Reader application that it codeveloped with The Times as another Vista showcase application. The PC-based Times Reader makes use of Windows Presentation Foundation technologies, including built-in display technologies that Microsoft was formerly developing under the "ePeriodicals" code name.

"The real reason to do a Vista application would be to exploit something like the .NET Framework, and specifically, the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation or Windows Workflow Foundation and the new search tools (to ensure that your data can be indexed)," said Michael Cherry, an analyst with the Directions on Microsoft analyst firm, based in Kirkland, Wash. "But the problem becomes that these features are not widely enough available (despite being promised for some level of support on XP SP2) to warrant the effort yet. (As an ISV), you don't want to create yet another version of your application.

Microsoft is planning more outreach to current and potential software developers at the TechEd 2006 conference in Boston the week of June 11, as well as the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston in early July, Gundotra said. At the Vista Partner Day at the partner conference, Microsoft will detail for ISVs, hardware partners and solution providers some of the company's plans for taking Vista to market.

Microsoft also recently launched a new DevReadiness Web site, aimed specifically at ISVs. The site includes technical information to help software developers build applications that "light up on Vista," as well as information on how to obtain Vista certification for current and new applications. And Microsoft has begun offering to hardware and software partners a "Windows Vista 101" class to further educate them on Vista features upon which they are encouraged to build.

Regardless of the depth of breadth of Windows resources Microsoft makes available to software vendors, developers will have to decide whether the risks of taking on Vista dependencies are outweighed by potential sales benefits.

"In my experience, the ISVs most likely to take the leap are small companies looking to differentiate themselves from their larger competitors," said Greg DeMichillie, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "Everything works against a large ISV taking a dependency on Vista. They can't afford to go Vista only, which means maintaining two source code bases.

"Normally, I'd say it's corporate app developer who would be first to use some feature because they run in a tightly controlled environment," DeMichillie continued. "That means that WCF will probably see relatively quick adoption but I don't see WPF going anywhere over the next 18 months. That's not a knock on the team or the technology, but it is a reflection that Microsoft has still not come up with a compelling business case for WPF."