14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has updated the collection of Visual Studio 2010 tools designed for version 1.4 of Windows Azure. Developers building projects for the software giant’s Cloud platform can head over to the Download Center and grab Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 1.4 (August 2011).
As was the case with previous versions of the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010, the latest update is available for download free of charge.
Just so the download process is not too confusing, the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010, 1.4 August 2011 update is now available as a standalone download, but rather through the Web Platform Installer.
The latest version of the tools is designed to enable developers to profile Windows Azure applications.
“With profiling support in the Windows Azure Tools you can easily detect performance bottlenecks in your application while it is running in Windows Azure,” Microsoft notes.
At the same time, the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010, 1.4 August 2011 update is also supporting the creation of ASP.Net MVC3 Web Roles.
“The new template includes the new universal ASP.Net providers that support SQL Azure and it will also make sure that MVC assemblies are deployed with your application when you publish to Windows Azure,” the Redmond company added.
Managing different deployment environments in a single cloud project is now also possible, following the latest update.
“The Windows Azure tools now support multiple service configurations in the same Windows Azure Project. This is especially useful for managing different Windows Azure Storage connection strings for local debugging and running in the cloud,” the company said.
In addition, Microsoft has also worked to provide developers with better validation for their Windows Azure projects.
“The new tools will help you avoid some of the common problems when you deploy your application to Windows Azure. If you are forgetting to include a local assembly in your package or you publish with a local Azure Storage connection string. The tools will let you know,” the software giant said.