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Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 arrive

Microsoft has released the final versions of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET …

Emil Protalinski – | 72
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As expected, Microsoft today announced the general availability of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. To celebrate, the company is hosting a launch consisting of more than 150 developer-focused events around the world. In time for the release, Microsoft made sure that developers have access to popular partner extensions earlier than before; approximately 50 partners already announced availability of products and solutions built on the two technologies.

Microsoft boasts that the new Visual Studio editor, which now uses Windows Presentation Foundation, supports the use of multiple monitors, Windows 7 multitouch, and the ribbon interface seen in other Microsoft products. One of the most useful features is IntelliTrace, which Redmond claims makes nonreproducible bugs virtually a thing of the past by recording the application's execution history and providing reproduction of the reported bug.

Furthermore, developers now get integrated access to SharePoint functionality within the Visual Studio integrated development environment. Also, Windows Azure tools can be used to develop, debug, test, and deploy cloud applications from within the same Visual Studio environment. Finally, there's built-in support for ASP.NET Model-View-Controller, so that developers can separately update the appearance and core business logic of Web applications.

In related news, Microsoft announced it will hit the Release to Web (RTW) milestone later in the week for Silverlight 4 (launch is tomorrow). The new version includes extended out-of-browser capabilities, enhancements for enterprise application developers, and more than 60 customizable pre-written controls to quickly build rich, interactive applications.

Coming back to .NET Framework, version 4 adds additional support for industry standards, inclusion of the Dynamic Language Runtime for more language choice, new support for high-performance middle-tier applications (including parallel programming, workflow, and service-oriented applications), and side-by-side installation with .NET Framework 3.5. With the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, the size of the runtime has been decreased by over 80 percent, making it easier for developers to get applications, and therefore users, up and running faster.

SKUs

Microsoft has cut down the number of SKUs with the Visual Studio 2010 release from nine to four:

Old Visual Studio SKUs Visual Studio 2010 SKUs
Team System Team Suite with MSDN Premium
$10,939 New or $3,499 Renewal		 Ultimate with MSDN
$11,924 New or $3,841 Renewal
Team System Development Edition with MSDN Premium
$5,469 New or $2,299 Renewal		 Premium with MSDN
$5,469 New or $2,299 Renewal
Team System Database Edition with MSDN Premium
$5,469 New or $2,299 Renewal
Team System Architect Edition with MSDN Premium
$5,469 New or $2,299 Renewal
Team System Test Edition with MSDN Premium
$5,469 New or $2,299 Renewal
Professional with MSDN Premium
$2,499 New or $1,999 Renewal		 Professional with MSDN
$1,199 New or $799 Renewal
Professional with MSDN Professional
$1,199 New or $799 Renewal
Professional
$799		 Professional (retail)
$799
Standard
$299

This naming scheme (Professional, Premium, and Ultimate) is purposefully similar to the Windows branding, and while we think it's a good idea, we're not particularly thrilled that Professional and Premium are out of order. Here's how Microsoft is currently differentiating the three core products:

VS 2010 Features MSDN Premium Benefits Additional Software Included
Ultimate IntelliTrace Historical Debugging
Comprehensive Testing Tools
Test Case and Test Lab Management
Advanced UML Architecture Tools
Architectural Discovery Tools
Unit Testing with Code Coverage and Test Prioritization
Code Analysis, Metrics and Optimization
Database Development and Testing Tools		 250 hours Azure Usage
TFS License (1 CAL)
4 Support Incidents		 Windows OS & Servers
XNA Game Studio
Expression Studio
Office
SQL Server
Business & Enterprise Servers
Premium Advanced Application Development & Debugging
Unit Testing with Code Coverage and Test Prioritization
Code Analysis, Metrics & Optimization
Database Development and Testing Tools
Read Only Architectural Diagrams		 100 hours Azure Usage
TFS License (1 CAL)
4 Support Incidents		 Windows OS & Servers
XNA Game Studio
Expression Studio
Office
SQL Server
Business & Enterprise Servers
Professional Application Development & Debugging
Unit Testing		 50 hours Azure Usage
TFS License (1 CAL)
2 Support Incidents		 Windows Client and Server OS
SQL Server
XNA Game Studio

To symbolize all these changes, Visual Studio is getting a new logo (it has never changed before); you can see it at the top of this post.

Get the release

The final releases of both Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 are now available to the general public via the Microsoft Download Center. If you're using one of the betas or the RC build, uninstall them before installing the final release. Here is a quick list of all the download links that are now available (Express editions are available at Microsoft.com/Express/Downloads):

MSDN subscribers have access to the final releases of both Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 as well. If you have MSDN access, go ahead and start downloading. Here is a list of all the downloads that MSDN subscribers now have access to under Subscriber Downloads:

  • .NET Framework 4 Client Profile (x86 and x64) - (English)
  • .NET Framework 4 Client Profile (x86) - (English)
  • .NET Framework 4 Full (x86 and ia64) - (English)
  • .NET Framework 4 Full (x86 and x64) - (English)
  • .NET Framework 4 Full (x86) - (English)
  • Report Viewer 2010 Redistributable (x86) - (English)
  • VC++ 2010 Redist Package (x86, x64, and ia64) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Express (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 FSharp 2.0 Runtime (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Integrated Shell (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Isolated Shell (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Premium (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Professional (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Remote Debugger (ia64) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Remote Debugger (x64) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Remote Debugger (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 SDK (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Tools for the Office System 4.0 Runtime (x64) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Tools for the Office System 4.0 Runtime (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio 2010 Visualization & Modeling SDK (x86) - (English)
  • Visual Studio Agents 2010 (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio Team Explorer 2010 (x86) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere 2010 (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
  • Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 (x86) - DVD (English)

Visual Studio 2010 Professional Edition is available for free to students via Microsoft Dreamspark.

After releasing Beta 1 and Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0, Microsoft originally had no plans for an RC build, instead hoping to have the final versions of both ready by March 22, 2010. That schedule was delayed after testers said the performance and virtual memory usage wasn't good enough, leading to a Release Candidate build.

Ultimate Offer and new MSDN subscriber benefits

The 2010 Ultimate Offer is a promotion to help existing customers with a premium MSDN subscription to upgrade to a higher level of the 2010 product. It has been extended yet again, for an additional two weeks, and is available to those who previously purchased one of the following products:

  • Visual Studio Professional 2008 with MSDN Premium
  • Visual Studio Team System 2008 Development Edition with MSDN Premium
  • Visual Studio Team System 2008 Architecture Edition with MSDN Premium
  • Visual Studio Team System 2008 Test Edition with MSDN Premium
  • Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition with MSDN Premium

These users will also get 750 free Azure hours per month (till about mid 2010) and 40 free Microsoft Learning hours. Once the deal is over, more hours will be laid out for the three core products. Team Foundation Server (TFS), test and development rights for Microsoft server software (including Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008), Microsoft Office, and premium Visual Studio tools are also available to all levels of MSDN.

For more information on today's release, check out any of the links below (the last one is the keynote). In terms of documentation, you'll likely want to check out the Visual Studio 2010 Readme, Quick Tour of the Integrated Development Environment, What's New in Visual Studio 2010, and What's New in the .NET Framework 4.

Emil Protalinski
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