14 DAY TRIAL // New versions of the Windows Azure Software Development Kit and Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio are now available for download from Microsoft. Both the SDK and the resources designed for VS were updated this month. One of the highlights in terms of changes for Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010) and the Windows Azure Software Development Kit (June 2010) is related to the introduction of support for Visual Studio 2010 RTM and for .Net Framework 4 RTM.
Developers can leverage the Windows Azure SDK in order to build both applications and services that run on Microsoft’s Cloud platform. Like any other SDK, the Windows Azure resources bring to the table APIs, tools, documentation, and samples that developers can use to simplify their work.
At the same time, the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio are designed as extensions to both Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2008, also streamlining the development of apps and services for Windows Azure. Customers that download and leverage Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010) no longer need the standalone Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010), as the SDK is included in it.
A member of the Windows Azure team noted that, “The June 2010 release of the Windows Azure Tools + SDK will include:
“• Full support for Visual Studio 2010 RTM; • .NET 4 support to provide developers with the flexibility to build services targeting either the .NET 3.5 or .NET 4 framework; • Cloud storage explorer to make it easier for developers to build compelling services by displaying a read-only view of Windows Azure tables and blob containers through the Visual Studio Server Explorer; • Integrated deployment, which will enable developers to deploy services directly from Visual Studio by selecting 'Publish' from the Solution Explorer; • Service monitoring to help developers track and manage the state of their services through the 'compute' node in Server Explorer; • IntelliTrace support for services running in the cloud to simplify the process of debugging services in the cloud through the Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate IntelliTrace feature.”
Windows Azure Software Development Kit (June 2010) is available for download here.
Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010) are available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Premium is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Professional is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate is available for download here.
Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 is available for download here.
.NET Framework 4 RTM is available for download here.