IIS 7.0 Features and Vista Editions

by Henry Seiler

Overview of IIS 7.0 differences Across Windows Vista Editions and Windows Server 2008 Editions

With the release of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 IIS 7.0 became available on all mainstream Windows Editions for the first time.

On Windows Vista Editions, IIS 7.0 will play a dual role. First, it offers web developers the complete web platform experience for building and testing web applications on Windows, for deployment on Windows Server, just like Windows XP. Second, it enables process activation and management and the necessary HTTP infrastructure for enabling connected consumer scenarios that will be built using the Windows Communication Foundation (WinFX).

Windows Vista Starter and Home Editions

The Windows Vista Starter and Home Editions are targeted at home and personal users who do not have the need to perform application or web development. IIS 7.0 Web Server and FTP Server features are not available on these editions. However, if you look closely you will notice specific components of IIS 7.0 that can be installed on these Editions. Please note, however, that installing these components will not provide a web server that supports static content, Classic ASP, or ASP.NET.

The IIS 7.0 components available on these Editions serve as supporting infrastructure for Microsoft's Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). Collectively the IIS 7.0 components that provide this infrastructure are referred to as the Windows Process Activation Service (WAS.) Users who install WCF based applications will not need to explicitly install WAS, rather these components will be installed by WCF as needed.

The IIS 7.0 simultaneous request execution limit for the Vista Starter and Home Editions is three.

See the Feature Summary below for a detailed list of IIS 7.0 features available on these Editions.

Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

The IIS 7.0 role on the Windows Vista Home Premium Edition is to support the needs of the casual or hobbyist web developers; as such the majority of the IIS 7.0 Web Server features required for web site development are available. Features not normally associated with hobbyist web development such as FTP server, advanced Web authentication and authorization, and remote administration are not available on the Vista Home Premium Edition.

The IIS 7.0 simultaneous request execution limit for the Vista Home Premium Edition is three.

See the Feature Summary below for a detailed list of IIS 7.0 features available on this Edition.

Windows Vista Professional Editions

For the Windows Vista Professional Editions IIS 7.0 role is squarely targeted at the professional web developer and provides professional web developers to everything necessary to design, develop, and test web applications. (Professional Editions include Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions.) All of the IIS 7.0 features available on Windows Server 2008 are available on the Professional Editions with the exception of remote administration. The Professional Editions places a limit of 10 simultaneous requests that can be processed.

See the Feature Summary below for a detailed list of IIS 7.0 features available on these Editions.

Windows Server 2008 Editions

With Windows Server 2008, IIS 7.0 is ready for full deployment of web applications: All features, including remote administration are available, and of course there is no request execution limitation.

See the Feature Summary below for a detailed list of IIS 7 features available on these Editions.

IIS 7.0 Vista Edition Feature Matrix

Display Names / Hierarchy Package Update Names Server Pro Premium Basic & Starter

Internet Information Services

IIS-WebServerRole

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

World Wide Web Services

IIS-WebServer

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

Common Http Features

IIS-CommonHttpFeatures

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

 

Static Content

IIS-StaticContent

Default

Default

Default

N/A

 

 

 

Default Document

IIS-DefaultDocument

Default

Default

Default

N/A

 

 

 

Directory Browsing

IIS-DirectoryBrowsing

Default

Default

Default

N/A

 

 

 

HTTP Errors

IIS-HttpErrors

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

 

HTTP Redirection

IIS-HttpRedirect

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

Application Development Features

IIS-ApplicationDevelopment

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

ASP.NET

IIS-ASPNET

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

.NET Extensibility

IIS-NetFxExtensibility

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

ASP

IIS-ASP

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

CGI

IIS-CGI

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

ISAPI Extensions

IIS-ISAPIExtensions

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

ISAPI Filters

IIS-ISAPIFilter

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

Server-Side Includes

IIS-ServerSideInclude

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

Health and Diagnostics

IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

 

HTTP Logging

IIS-HTTPLogging

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

 

Logging Tools

IIS-LoggingLibraries

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

Request Monitor

IIS-RequestMonitor

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

 

Tracing

IIS-HttpTracing

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

Custom Logging

IIS-CustomLogging

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

ODBC Logging

IIS-ODBCLogging

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

Security

IIS-Security

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

Basic Authentication

IIS-BasicAuthentication

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

Windows Authentication

IIS-WindowsAuthentication

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

 

Digest Authentication

IIS-DigestAuthentication

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

 

Client Certificate Mapping Authentication

IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

 

IIS Client Certificate Mapping Authentication

IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

 

URL Authorization

IIS-URLAuthorization

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

Request Filtering

IIS-RequestFiltering

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

IP Security

IIS-IPSecurity

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

Performance Features

IIS-Performance

Default

Default

Default

Available

 

 

 

Static Content Compression

IIS-HttpCompressionStatic

Default

Default

Default

N/A

 

 

 

Http Compression Dynamic

IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

Web Management Tools

IIS-WebServerManagementTools

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

 

IIS Management Console

IIS-ManagementConsole

Default

Default

Default

N/A

 

 

IIS Management Scripts and Tools

IIS-ManagementScriptingTools

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

IIS Management Service

IIS-ManagementService

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

IIS 6 Management Compatibility

IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

IIS Metabase and IIS 6 compatibility

IIS-Metabase

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

 

 

IIS 6 WMI Compatibility

IIS-WMICompatibility

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

IIS 6 Scripting Tools

IIS-LegacyScripts

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

 

 

IIS 6 Management Console

IIS-LegacySnapIn

Available

Available

Available

N/A

 

FTP Publishing Service

IIS-FTPPublishingService

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

FTP Server

IIS-FTPServer

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

 

 

FTP Management Console

IIS-FTPManagement

Available

Available

N/A

N/A

Windows Activation Service

WAS-WindowsActivationService

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

Process Model

WAS-ProcessModel

Default

Default

Default

Default

 

.NET Environment

WAS-NetFxEnvironment

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

Configuration APIs

WAS-ConfigurationAPI

Available

Available

Available

Available

 

Request Execution Limit

 

Unlimited

10

3

3

Summary

In this article we examined the differences in IIS 7.0 across the Windows Vista and Server 2008 Editions.