Microsoft SOAP Toolkit: Version 2.0 and Version 1.0

Summary: While Microsoft SOAP Toolkit version 1.0 allowed developers to experiment with Web services, the version 2.0 Gold Release delivers the SOAP infrastructure developers need to build production Web Services. (1 printed page)

Download the Microsoft SOAP Toolkit version 2.0 Gold Release at MSDN Online Downloads.

The Microsoft SOAP Toolkit version 1.0 was an unsupported MSDN sample. While some of you used the MSDN sample code to solve real problems you face today, most of you approached the MSDN sample in the way it was intended-to experiment with Web Services.

Over the past few months of successful experimentation with Web Services, you have provided us with feedback that you're ready to move forward from the experimentation phase to begin developing and deploying enterprise-scale applications that implement and consume Web Services. Therefore, starting with the SOAP Toolkit version 2.0, Microsoft is delivering the SOAP infrastructure you need to build production Web Services.

The Microsoft SOAP Toolkit version 2.0 is developed and supported by the same team that delivers the Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML), and represents core Web Services technology that is used across a number of Microsoft's own software products. Thus, having fulfilled its primary purpose, the December release of SOAP Toolkit version 1.0 was the final update of the MSDN sample; it is no longer available for download, having been fully replaced by the SOAP Toolkit version 2.0.

The Microsoft SOAP Toolkit version 2.0 adds support for the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) 1.1 Specification and the SOAP Specification version 1.1. Starting with this Gold Release, the SOAP Toolkit version 2 is fully supported by Microsoft product support.

With the SOAP Toolkit version 2.0, Microsoft has responded to customer requests to make some critical architectural changes, primarily to support the latest level of standards specifications and to implement a programming model designed for rapid developer productivity. These changes may require you to modify some of the existing application code that you've written using the SOAP Toolkit version 1.0 sample code.

To learn how to migrate a simple application from the SOAP Toolkit version 1.0 to version 2.0 using high-level interfaces, see the Microsoft SOAP Toolkit Version 1.0 to 2.0 Migration Tutorial.