Microsoft has announced immediate availability of its Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 to MSDN subscribers; general availability be on October 21. The official launch date for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 is March 22, 2010.
New testing options in Visual Studio 2010 to the IDE include built-in tools for Windows 7 and Microsoft SharePoint 2010, new drag-and-drop bindings for Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation. With the .NET Framework 4, developers can experience immensely smaller deployments with up to, Microsoft claims, an 81 percent reduction in the framework size when using the Client Profile. Other .NET Framework 4 benefits include 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 backward compatibility through side-by-side installation with .NET Framework 3.5.
Microsoft also says it has simplified the product lineup for Visual Studio 2010 and announced pricing details. In the next version, customers will be able to choose from three versions of Visual Studio 2010:
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN. A suite of application life-cycle management tools for software teams to help ensure quality results from design to deployment
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Premium with MSDN. A toolset to help developers deliver scalable, high-quality applications
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional with MSDN. A tool for basic development tasks to assist developers in implementing their ideas easily
