Get Ready for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta and Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta

The latest finalized versions of Visual Studio and .NET Framework have been around for quite some time now, almost half a year taking into consideration the November 2007 release to manufacturing dates. But while .NET Framework 3.5 was made available for download at the end of the past year, the "official" launch of Visual Studio 2008 was pushed back until February 2007, as the latest iteration of Microsoft's suite of development products built under the Visual Studio umbrella accompanied Windows Server 2008 to the market via the Heroes Happen. The Redmond company is now gearing up for the first step in the next stage of the two products' evolution, namely the Service Pack 1 milestones.

Both .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 have been cooking over at Microsoft, and the company is now preparing to release the first Beta builds. "We will be releasing the beta of Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and the .NET Framework SP1. Each of these releases contains a significant amount of new functionality and bug fixes for developers which will further enhance their experiences with our products. However, this bulletin is focused on new functionality specifically in .NET Framework SP1 and Visual Studio SP1 for Client development," explained Lai Hoong Fai, Senior Independent Software Vendors Technology Advisor, Microsoft Malaysia.

Lai Hoong Fai provided little additional details about VS2008 SP1 Beta, and focused on the testing release for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. However, the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta forum is already live, even though so far Microsoft has failed to deliver the Betas for either of the two service packs.

"The .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Beta delivers more controls, a streamlined setup, improved start-up performance, and powerful new graphics features for WPF development. This release includes numerous bug fixes and the following feature areas: new and improved graphics capabilities for both 2D and 3D, new controls and extensibility, performance improvements for startup and runtime, as well as streamlined setup and interop with HTML (DOM) as well as DirectX," Lai Hoong Fai added.

The Redmond company is also hammering away at .NET Framework 3.5 in order to deliver an evolved user experience through streamlining the setup process. In this context, the client applications and scenarios will benefit from a new .NET Framework 3.5 Client Profile which will be introduced as a subset of .NET Framework 3.5.

"The beta is intended as a mechanism to allow early testing and feedback. As a beta release, it is recommended that you only install the service pack on test machines (VPCs would be great for that purpose). Note that there are a few known incompatibilities with this service pack including: Expression Blend, the Silverlight 2 Beta 1 SDK, and the Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 1 for Visual Studio 2008. A new version of Expression Blend 2.5 March Preview has been released that is compatible with this service pack. These issues will be resolved for the final release, but it is important that you start testing your apps for compatibility and provide feedback to us," Lai Hoong Fai stated.

When the Betas for .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 are alive, I will provide you with an update. In the meantime, .NET Framework 3.5 can be downloaded from here; Visual Studio 2008 is available for download here.

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