14 DAY TRIAL // The Beta versions of Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 are now available for download to the general public. The Service Pack 1 milestones for the two products bring to the table a range of improvements and the Betas will give users a taste of the evolution of Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. According to Othmane Rahmouni, Microsoft Program Manager, there have been hundreds of bugs fixed with the service packs as well as numerous features added in the release. Microsoft pointed to mid-2008 as the deadline when it plans to release the final versions of Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.
".NET 3.5 SP1 and VS 2008 SP1 provide a bunch of bug fixes, performance improvements, and additional feature enhancements that make building all types of .NET applications better. It will be a fully compatible service pack release. We plan to ship the final release of both .NET 3.5 SP1 and VS 2008 SP1 this summer as free updates", explained Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President in the Microsoft Developer Division.
Guthrie has compiled a comprehensive presentation for the Betas of both Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 with a focus on roll-up of bug fixes and performance enhancements, but also on the additional features introduced with the releases, designed to take .NET development a step further. Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 Beta brings to the table, among others, support for SQL Server 2008, the ADO.NET Entity Designer, advanced JavaScript support and AJAX tools. .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Beta is designed to deliver performance gains of up to 45% for Windows Presentation Foundation-based programs but also enhancements connected with the ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services, as well as support for the new feature additions of SQL Server 2008.
"Traditionally our service packs address a range of issues found both through customer and partner feedback as well as our own internal testing. While this service pack holds true to that theme and delivers updates for these types of issues, it also builds on the tremendous value that Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 deliver today and enables an improved developer experience by adding a number of additional components that cover a range of highly requested customer features. For example, the service pack is the first release for Visual Studio 2008 that delivers full support for SQL Server 2008 and the ADO.NET Entity Framework", revealed S. "Soma" Somasegar, Senior Vice President, Developer Division.
Here are the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta downloads:
- Visual Studio 2008 Shell (isolated mode) with Service Pack 1 Beta Redistributable Package - Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition with SP1 Beta - Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Service Pack 1 (Beta) - Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 Beta