Windows Ux Guidelines

Even though Windows may be the platform that everyone loves to hate, the simple truth of the matter is that it still has market share somewhere north of 90%. Additionally, when it's all said and done, Windows is actually a fantastic platform to develop software on today. Products like Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 make it super-easy to create professional-looking applications with a minimal amount of effort. Of course, I am biased on this matter, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but still keep in mind that if you want to write rich client applications (fat apps?) you will probably end up targeting Windows.

I'll probably be saying a lot and linking quite often to information on creating great-looking Windows apps in the near future, but there is no better place to start than the Windows User Experience Guidelines. Take this document to heart, as it contains a great deal of very useful, valuable information that can help differentiate your application in the marketplace.