Improved Peer Networking

Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking, originally introduced with the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP and later included in Windows XP SP2, is an operating system platform and API in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that allow the development of peer-to-peer (P2P) applications that do not require a server. Windows Vista and Windows 7 include the following enhancements to Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking:

• New, easy-to-use API APIs to access Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking capabilities such as name resolution, group creation, and security have been highly simplified in Windows Vista and Windows 7, making it easier for developers to create P2P applications.
• New version of PNRP Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) is a name resolution protocol, like DNS, that functions without a server. PNRP uniquely identifies computers within a peer cloud. Windows Vista and Windows 7 include a new version of PNRP (PNRP v2) that is more scalable and uses less network bandwidth. For PNRP v2 in Windows Vista and Windows 7, Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking applications can access PNRP name publication and resolution functions through a simplified PNRP API that supports the standard name resolution methods used by applications. For IPv6 addresses, applications can use the getaddrinfo() function to resolve the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) name.prnp.net, in which name is the peer name being resolved. The pnrp.net domain is a reserved domain for PNRP name resolution. The PNRP v2 protocol is incompatible with the PNRP protocol used by computers running Windows XP. Microsoft is investigating the development and release of an update to the Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking features in Windows XP to support PNRP v2.
• People Near Me People Near Me is a new capability of Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking that allows users to dynamically discover other users on the local subnet and their registered People Near Me-capable applications, as well as to invite users into a collaboration activity easily. The invitation and its acceptance start an application on the invited user's computer, and the two applications can begin participating in a collaboration activity such as chatting, photo sharing, or game playing.

PNRP v2 is not backward compatible with earlier versions of the protocol. Although PNRP v2 can coexist on a network with earlier versions, it cannot communicate with PNRP v1 clients.