Namespace Usage Guidelines for the Windows Vista File System

Overview

This white paper is intended for application developers and IT professionals. It provides guidelines for using the Windows Vista User Profile namespace in the applications. Windows Vista has an improved file system namespace that enables users to find and organize data easily. The file system namespace also enables application developers to distinguish between application-managed data and end-user-managed data, between private data and shared data, and between computer-dependent data and computer-independent data. The new file system namespace provides a platform that leverages features already available in Windows (for example, folder redirection) and improves the functionality of features in user scenarios (for example, improved data roaming, data migration, and data backup).