Vista allows for a manifest file for each EXE.
For an application vendor to receive the Vista Certified status all of the EXEs that they ship with their product need to have manifest files.

The Vista Logo Certification Program is from Microsoft http://microsoft.mrmpslc.com/InnovateOnWindowsVista/getstartedcert.aspx

See the requirement from TEST CASE 1 from this document,

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/5/d/a5d3d02a-fd03-466f-9ba8-97f5e7a90a98/CertifiedforWindowsVistaProgramTestCases.doc