You mean, like MS BOB? The MS cordless phone? Someone's in the Kitchen? Freestyle Pro? WinG? IE Channels? Image Composer? I wasn’t aware the masses were beating doors down to find these!
Just a note from someone who was a wee bit involved with WinToon and WinG development in the past:
These api's were meant as a bridge between Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. Windows 3.1 video drivers didn't know much about writing to off screen buffers. WinG was never meant as any kind of long term solution. DirectDraw surfaces are an outgrowth of all of that..
IE channels are still KINDA there but hidden.. Most useful are they if you have pocket pc's.
And who didn't love BOB back in the days of Program Manager. Someone had a sense of humor.. The barking dog along with Paperclip made it to MS Word help :-)
The point I am making is a good technology company isn't afraid to experiment and make available short term solutions along with their core technologies..