Download Expression Blend 4 Release Candidate (RC)

Developers that use Expression Blend to build applications and services employing Silverlight and the .NET Framework, now have a new release at their disposal. Expression Blend 4 Release Candidate (RC) has been up for grabs via the Microsoft Download Center since April 14th, in concert with the .NET Framework 4 RTM and Silverlight 4 RTW. Of course, by leveraging Expression Blend 4, devs can build both Silverlight 4 (but also Silverlight 3) websites and Cloud applications, as well as desktop apps based on Windows Presentation Foundation WPF 3.5 SP1 and WPF 4.

An aspect worth mentioning for developers is the fact that the Release Candidate build of Expression Blend 4 comes with a go-live license. In this sense, the tool can be used into production environments, with the content created making its way to end users. “This release of Expression Blend 4 targets the final versions of Silverlight 4 and .NET 4, you can share your creations with the rest of the world. You no longer are limited to only sharing your creations in source code form or for private testing,” a member of the Expression Blend team stated.

Developers will obviously need to get additional resources from Microsoft, including Silverlight 4 and .NET 4. You will be able to find the necessary download links at the bottom of this article. And this is also the perfect time to take Visual Studio 2010 RTM out for a spin.

“Expression Blend provides support for prototyping, interactivity through behaviors, special Silverlight functionality, and on-the-fly sample data generation. Expression Blend includes new behaviors that are quickly and easily configured. To support the development of line-of-business (LOB) applications, Expression Blend introduces support for Views and ViewModels,” Microsoft added.

However, developers should keep in mind that Expression Blend 4 RC is designed especially for Silverlight 4 RTW and .NET Framework RTM. Those that are building Windows Phone apps should stick with Expression Blend 4 Beta, at least for the time being.

Expression Blend 4 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.

Silverlight 4 Build 4.0.50401.0 RTW is available for download here.