14 DAY TRIAL // A new free resource from Microsoft available to customers using Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011, enabled the addition of some modern eye candy to business applications. Users already leveraging the latest edition of Visual Studio can head over to the Visual Studio Code Gallery and grab the LightSwitch Metro Theme.
The resource is available free of charge from Microsoft, along with additional themes designed to enhance LightSwitch applications.
“Last night the LightSwitch Team released the Metro Theme for Visual Studio LightSwitch on the Visual Studio Gallery. You can also download it directly from the Extension Manager inside Visual Studio LightSwitch,” revealed Beth Massi, a Senior Program Manager on the Microsoft Visual Studio BizApps team.
As the official label of the download implies, customers developing on-premises and Cloud business apps can enhance them by adding the Metro UI look and feel to their projects.
Microsoft introduced the Metro UI in Windows Phone 7, and will only kick the theme up a notch with the advent of such products as Windows Phone Mango and Windows 8.
“The Metro theme gives you a more modern look to your applications with simple colors and more emphasis on text. [Here are some screenshots] of the Metro theme applied to the Contoso Construction sample application and the Time Tracker Starter Kit,” Massi stated.
Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011 was released to manufacturing at the end of July 2011, a new VS solution offering customers the option to build business applications without coding work.
The new Visual Studio SKU retails for $299, but it’s currently available at $100 off, for just $199, a special deal celebrating its launch.
Customers that want to test drive Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011 RTM ahead of purchasing it can grab a free trial release of the solution from the link below.
Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011 RTM Trial is available for download here.
