The NetBIOS Interface

[Netbios is not supported on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and subsequent versions of the operating system]

Purpose

Note

The NetBIOS interface is provided on versions of Windows prior to Windows Vista primarily for existing legacy applications that use IBM NetBIOS 3.0 and need to be ported to Windows. New applications and applications not requiring compatibility with NetBIOS should use other interfaces, such as mailslots, named pipes, RPC, sockets, or distributed COM to accomplish tasks similar to those supported by NetBIOS. These interfaces are more flexible and portable than NetBIOS.