14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has started offering the first Beta of its next-generation development platform and tools. Visual Studio 2010 Beta and .NET Framework 4.0 Beta are now available for download, with the Redmond company in the first phase of broadening the testing process. For the time being, access to the Beta bits is limited to just MSDN subscribers. However, public downloads of Visual Studio 2010 Beta and .NET Framework 4.0 Beta are not that far behind. In fact, the software giant plans to start serving the Beta for the successors of Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 tomorrow, May 20, 2009.
“We are releasing Beta 1 of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET FX 4. If you are a MSDN subscriber, you can [already] download the Beta. For the rest of the world, the Beta will be publicly available on Wednesday,” revealed S. Somasegar, senior vice president, Developer Division. “We have more work to do in terms of finishing up the feature work for some of the scenarios and getting to the right levels of quality and performance, but we have made enough progress that we wanted to start getting your feedback. As with any software development process, getting customer feedback in a timely manner helps us make better products. We are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this beta.”
The next generation of Microsoft's development platforms and tools are synchronized with the evolution of the company's software products. In this context, the focus with Visual Studio 2010 Beta and .NET Framework 4.0 Beta is on parallel programming, but also Cloud and web development. Developers will be able to enjoy an overhauled graphical user interface and leverage the results of Microsoft's efforts to democratize Application Lifecycle Management via Visual Studio Team System 2010.
“The .NET Framework is an integral Windows component that supports building and running the next generation of applications and Web services. The key components of the .NET Framework are the common language runtime (CLR) and the .NET Framework class library, which includes ADO.NET, ASP.NET, Windows Forms, and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). The .NET Framework provides a managed execution environment, simplified development and deployment, and integration with a wide variety of programming languages,” reads an excerpt from the documentation for the .NET Framework 4 Beta 1.