14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has opened access to the second Beta development milestone of the next iteration of .NET to the general public. After it was released initially only to MSDN subscribers, .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 is currently up for grabs for all users and developers, independent of an MSDN subscription. .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 accompanied the release of Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, and together the two make up the next-generation Microsoft developer platform and tools, both intimately connected with any development efforts targeting Windows 7.
Nicholas Allen, program manager at Microsoft working on Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, Silverlight, and other projects for the .NET Framework, announced the availability of .Net 4 Beta 2 to the public on the same day that Microsoft gave the green light to the retail channel launch of Windows 7. “You will see a number of new WCF features changed or moved around since the first beta release, but what you see now is almost everything planned for .Net 4,” Allen promised.
Both developers and end users will be able to get their hands on the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 redistributable package, which is designed to deploy the .NET Framework runtime and also install the associated files that permit .NET 4 applications to be developed and run. Devs already familiar with past versions of the .NET Framework will undoubtedly notice CLR and BCL enhancements, but also improvements in the Visual Basic and C# languages, in ADO.NET, ASP.NET, WPF, in Windows Workflow and in Windows Communication Foundation. In addition, Microsoft has introduced enhancements designed to streamline development for parallel processors in .NET Framework 4.
“If you're planning to test .Net 4 for compatibility, then I highly recommend doing that as soon as possible using this beta, preferably in the next few weeks. It's virtually impossible to address any but the most severe issues once the release date gets close. Waiting to test can delay getting your feedback addressed for years until the next service pack or release comes out,” Allen added.
.NET Framework 4 Beta 2 is available for download here.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 2 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Beta 2 are available for download via this link.