Having a look around at WebsiteSpark from Microsoft - the deal is good (especially if you were looking to go down this path already). But I'm one of those people that likes to 'wait for the next version' if I'm in no rush to sign up. One question that's been bugging me is whether or not the program includes upgrades to Visual Studio and/or they will change the starting pack at some point?
Currently, If you sign up now, you get 3 copies of Visual Studio 2008.
If you're umming and ahhing about the scheme, is it worth waiting and hoping that they adapt their program so that it comes with VS2010? Or maybe that they'll offer free updates to those already in the scheme?
(This question may be a little subjective I guess and it probably applies to the BizSpark side of things as well. Have there been any hints set in other Microsoft programs that might indicate the outcome? ).
See Scott's answer here: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/09/24/announcing-the-websitespark-program.aspx
This is great. Will is cover software upgrades i.e. VS 2010 when
available?
Yes - while you are in the program you
can always download the latest version
of any of the software. So once VS
2010 is released you can download that
as well.
Hope this helps,
Scott
Scott gu confirmed on his blog that the liceses will cover 2010 when it's released.
Related
For those with experience of VS2008 and VS2010. Are there any areas in which you prefered 2008? Any annoyances with the upgrade?
Any reasons not to upgrade?
I'm coming at this from a Web Dev point of view.
Thanks
I think it depend principally of how you use VS.
If your goal is to continue to use Windows Form without Linq (some people stay with VB6...), VS 2010 don't seems to be a good investment...
But if you use, or plan to use WPF and co., VS 2010 seems to be a good investment for me !
So, i think it's interesting to ask yourself : "Any reason NOT to upgrade to WPF and Linq ?"
About your the fear of change like Office 2003 -> Office 2007
Yes, me too, i feel "dropped to my grandma's level"...
But i feel like that too with the change Windows Form -> WPF.
It's good for me : it's not with the improvement of the candle the the bulb was invented !
Office 2007 is for me a great improvement for the user interface...
But it's just my point of vue.
The main reason to upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 is the .NET Framework's new version 4.0, and all the accompanying tools you can use.
If you don't need this new version now, you can delay the upgrade: that's a reason.
But sooner or later, because we all know that we can't stay behind, we'll have to step forward... This is why all of us are using Visual Studio 2008 instead of Visual Studio 6.0 and build software for Windows 7 instead of Windows 98...
If you're in a team, one person upgrading forces all of your developers to have to upgrade as the Solution files and Project files will be marked as being 2010 format and VS2008 won't read them. One of our developers checked in a project using a 2010 beta and now we can't work on it as we didn't buy 2010 yet :(
I suggest you get VS2010 Express (when it's around) and experiment with it as far as performance goes. It's not quite the same as the full version, but close enough to spot big problems I should think.
Friend of mine just established own coding company. They wanted create professional application written in .NET.
Now he on the stage buying software. We have discussed what VS version is absolutely minimum for this purposes.
There are lot of different version Professional / Team Suite / Team Developer ...
I wonder what you recommend?
Ideally: less (possible) cost but not short-sightedness? Would be possible base on only VS Professional Edition?
I forgot to add that friend's company is partially refunded by EU. So it would be better to him spend more money at start then pay for upgrade in future. So, looking rather for target solution.
We have looked at comparison matrix obviously. We couldn't find strong arguments for "Team" edition. Believe most of "Team" features can be supplemented by 3rd parity tools (nUnit, Subversion, Resharper) what he used to use anyway...
If VS Professional would be selected - GDR will be the one think we noticed really missing in that approach.
Definitely check out Microsoft BizSpark. For next to nothing Microsoft will provide a software startup with Visual Studio, SQL Server, and other dev tools. I would also say that the edition doesn't matter as much as what comes with it. Look at the feature matrices of the various VS packages and figure out what you need. You can always upgrade later. I've done a lot of contract work with VS Express and there are no licensing restrictions on what you do with the software you build. Start small, and buy as necessary.
I suggest a look at the Visual Studio Editions comparison sheet and just check what you need. Note that from a technical perspective, you are not locked if you choose to start with a smaller edition.
At least Pro - given the description above you want to look at the BizSpark programme. If you don't/can't go down that route then you should be looking at an MSDN sub to at least the VS Pro level.
I would start with the Express Editions and upgrade to another edition if you miss functionallity (e.g. Add-Ins like Resharper; they cannot be used in the express edition). Upgrading is no problem since you can use your projects in all editions.
With the general public release of Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 today, this latest version has created a lot of hype and interest.
Indeed, the opinion I've gauged is that VS 2010 has resolved a great deal of the minor flaws left over from previous versions, as well as added some particularly useful new code editor and project development tools (in particular the Premium/Ultimate versions).
My question here is: what are you favourite new features in VS 2010 that have really got you excited? Or similarly, what are the flaws of VS 2008 that you are most glad to have resolved?
There is a wealth of changes in VS 2010, of course, but these are some of the ones that have interested me most (about which I know!).
Integrated support for F# (with multi-targeting for .NET 2.0 - 4.0)/
Much improved WPF designer. The VS 2008 was more than a bit buggy at times.
Great improvements to the code editor, such as call hierarchy viewing.
A decent add-in framework.
A greatly expanded testing framework (now capable of database testing, for example) in Premium/Ultimate.
Project planning and modelling features in Premium/Ultimate.
If I could request one point/feature per post, I think that would be best, so we could vote them individually.
Visual Studio 2010's true Multi-Monitor Support sounds pretty fantastic.
The feature I'm most looking forward to having a decent play with is actually more .net 4 than visual studio. Parallel Extensions looks like it will be very interesting.
The new, clean web.config should make my managers happy.
"Just change the option in the web.config"
"Where is it?"
"Under 'AppSettings.'"
"Ugh ... there's so much junk in that file."
The built in profiler and historical debugger!
The 'Navigate To' window (Ctrl+,) is fantastic. Eclipse has something similar, and I've always thought Visual Studio needed it. Now if they would just add a 'Collapse All' button to the Solution Explorer...
One-click web publishing will be handy.
Favorite feature? Requiring 4 gigs of RAM to run it's bloat.
I liked many features
Deployment
Gated checkin
Parallel Programming
Faster debugging
Separate debugger for x86 and x64
These are just few.... The more you explore VS2010 the more you will get. Try to go through the videos by microsoft.
Thanks,
Sunil Agarwal
I recently got a job working for a company who uses several programming languages but mainly focuses on C#, and thus uses Visual Studio 2008.
As lame as it sounds, I don't know how to use it productively. I don't know any of the keyboard shortcuts, I didn't know you could restrict builds to certain parts of a solution until someone showed me. I'm sure there's a way to "Clean" "Build" "Run" without manually initiating each process, but I don't know what it is.
If it was just a "Search the help" problem, that'd be easy to solve, but I don't even know what I might be missing. Is there a productivity feature that everyone else uses and I don't? {Shrug}
So, what simple features of Visual Studio am I likely to be missing, and how can I find out other power-features to help me become more productive?
You can learn tons from walkthroughs, like the File/New/NerdDinner talk that Scott Hanselman gave at Mix 2009. The talk is online here:
http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX09/T49F
Until I saw that talk I didn't realize that you could just drag a SQL Server data file into the Visual Studio APP_DATA folder, and it would automatically hook it up for you. A copy of the data file also goes along for the ride when you build your application.
There are several books that just talk about Visual Studio and how to use it productively. Here are some:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/dd285474.aspx
The problem with providing tips in an online forum like this one is that it can be difficult to "connect the dots." The walkthroughs are really good because you can see where things are in Visual Studio, and what sequences of steps are required to perform common actions.
Sara Ford wrote the book on VS tips and tricks:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft%C2%AE-Visual-Studio%C2%AE-Tips-PRO-Developer/dp/0735626405/
Here is a blog post with 24 of Sara Ford's tips
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2009/05/28/devdays-09-24-visual-studio-tips.aspx/
I also recommend James Avery's book:
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Studio-Hacks-Tools-Turbocharging/dp/0596008473
I hope this helps.
As a start here is a poster which shows all the keyboard shortcuts for commonly used features of VS2008 (in C# mode).
In terms of tooling, ReSharper has a number of good features for improving productivity within VS2008.
I know VS2010 is coming out soon and that usually corresponds to a update of the express versions
does anyone know if they are going to make a separate F# express suite?
From this page:
Don says: Our current plan is not to have a separate express edition, but instead to continue to provide a version of the development tools that can either be used as a standalone command line compiler, or as an add-in, initially to Visual Studio 2008.
UPDATE
Today a new release of F# includes an installer into the VS2010 integrated shell. So you can have a 'free' VS2010 experience of F# now.
You can install Visual Studio 2008 Shell and install F# add-in on top of it (which makes it effectively free). I can't see a need for an express edition.
They say It will come with VS2010:
http://cs.hubfs.net/blogs/f_team/archive/2009/05/20/10398.aspx
The compiler is free (as in beer) so you're only lacking an editor.
Mehrdad is of course correct that the VS shell can be installed for free and then you just install the free F#. And he's correct again that to get both C# Express and VB Express on one machine is two separate installs.
So for the stack-overflow types, really there is no need for F# Express.
But consider a high-school, community-college or university setting. It's easier for the instructor, and easier for all the students to visit one site (the future 2010 Express edition site) and click on install F# Express. One URL for the instructors to document in class handouts, one place to go per student, then one install operation per student. And no instructor or student has to worry "Should I install integrated mode VS shell or isolated mode VS shell?"
Again, there's no issue here for stack-overflow people. And it won't be an issue in the classrooms until instructors want to put F# into their classrooms.
But there is a bit of chicken/egg here. If an F# Express edition exists before there is much demand in the classrooms, that removes a hurdle, which means classroom demand could take off sooner. Maybe a lot sooner.