LSP support in Windows 8

What’s new with Windows 8

Windows 8 offers two modes of work: Metro and Desktop. Desktop is the mode we are used to, most apps that work on Windows 7, will work fine on Desktop mode including LSP. Metro is the new mode that uses sandbox for each app, Metro app can’t use normal Win API, it has to use WinRT which is a special Metro API.

How this affects LSP?

According to a recent decision by Microsoft, LSPs can’t intercept Metro apps because (according to them): It affected customer experience, mostly with malware and adware, and it’s an easy way to bypass the Metro sandbox.

What’s next?

Any application that wants to intercept Metro based apps must use WFP, since all other method will not work with Metro (TDI/DLL Injection/LSP)

Does Komodia has a solution?

Yes, we have a WFP component and adjusted it to work with Windows 8 new interception requirements, you can visit the product’s page: Komodia’s Redirector.

Is LSP dead?

LSP is not dead yet, in June 2012 around 42% of OS are Windows XP which can’t use WFP, so any company that still wants to support XP must use LSP, Windows 7 has 40% market share that supports LSP as well.

The advantage of Komodia’s solution that it supports the same API for WFP and LSP, so you don’t need to worry about the OS differences.