Dr. Dobb's | .NET 3.5 SPI and VS 2008 SPI Released to Manufacturing

.NET 3.5 SPI and VS 2008 SPI Released to Manufacturing

August 11, 2008
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/windows/net-35-spi-and-vs-2008-spi-released-to-m/210002059

Microsoft has released to manufacturing of the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Visual Studio 2008 SP1. These releases come just nine months after the release of the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008, and include a number of updates. Included in the SP1 updates are:

The .NET Framework Client Profile which makes it easier for developers to deploy client applications thanks to an 86.5 percent reduction (197MB to 26.5MB) in .NET Framework size.
Improvements to the common language runtime (CLR), such as the ability to generate managed code that improves application startup time by 20-45 percent.
ADO.NET Data Services and ADO.NET Entity Framework, which raise the level of abstraction for database programming and supply both a new model-based paradigm and a rich, standards-based framework for creating data-oriented Web services. Support for SQL Server 2008 is also now available with SP1.
Enhancements to the REST services functionality within Windows Communication Foundation provide a more flexible programming model for building services to support both Web 2.0 and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) applications.

"The beauty of the .NET Framework has always been that it makes it easier for developers to build applications that are visually stunning, well connected and highly secure," says Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft. "However, we want to make sure we are keeping the end-user experience in mind as well, which is why we created the .NET Framework Client Profile. The .NET Framework Client Profile significantly speeds up the installation of Windows and enables a much more consumer-friendly experience. This is a huge step forward for the more than 4 million .NET developers worldwide."

Enhancements in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 build on the functionality in the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Improvements include better-performing designers for building WPF applications, improved tools for developing AJAX applications, improved designers for working with the ADO.NET Entity Framework, a richer JavaScript development environment, and a streamlined website deployment experience. Visual Studio 2008 SP1 also extends the developer-focused innovations in SQL Server 2008, making the development of occasionally connected applications and spatial applications easier and offering developers additional controls for incorporating business intelligence into applications.