Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Beta 1

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 mark the next generation of developer tools from Microsoft. Check it out!
Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 focuses on the core pillars of developer experience, support for the latest platforms, targeted experiences for specific application types, and core architecture improvements.

The Microsoft .NET Framework is a software component which can be added to the Microsoft Windows operating system. It provides a large body of pre-coded solutions to common program requirements, and manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework. The .NET Framework is a key Microsoft offering, and is intended to be used by most new applications created for the Windows platform.

The pre-coded solutions in the namespaces form the framework's class library and cover a large range of programming needs in areas including the user interface, data access, cryptography, web application development, numeric algorithms, and network communications. The functions of the class library are used by programmers who combine them with their own code to produce applications.

Programs written for the .NET Framework execute in a software environment that manages the program's runtime requirements. This runtime environment, which is also a part of the .NET Framework, is known as the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLR provides the appearance of an application virtual machine, so that programmers need not consider the capabilities of the specific CPU that will execute the program. The CLR also provides other important services such as security mechanisms, memory management, and exception handling. The class library and the CLR together compose the .NET Framework. The framework is intended to make it easier to develop computer applications and to reduce the vulnerability of applications and computers to security threats.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 provides the following new features and improvements:
* The .NET Framework 4 works side by side with the Framework version 3.5 SP1. Applications that are based on earlier versions of the Framework will continue to run on that version. Just a subset of functionality is shared by all versions of the Framework.
* Innovations in the Visual Basic and C# languages, for example statement lambdas, implicit line continuations, dynamic dispatch, and named/optional parameters.
* The ADO.NET Entity Framework, which simplifies how developers program against relational databases by raising the level of abstraction, has many new features. These includes persistence ignorance and POCO support, lazy loading, test-driven development support, functions in model, and new LINQ operators.
* Enhancements to ASP.NET:
o New JavaScript UI Templates and databinding capabilities for AJAX.
o New ASP.NET chart control.
* Improvements in WPF:
o Added support in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) for Windows 7 multi-touch, ribbon controls, and taskbar extensibility features.
o Added support in WPF for Surface 2.0 SDK.
o New line-of-business controls including charting control, smart edit, data grid, and others that improve the experience for developers who build data centric applications.
o Improvements in performance and scalability.
o Visual improvements in text clarity, layout pixel snapping, localization, and interoperability.
* Improvements to Windows Workflow (WF) that let developers to better host and interact with workflows. These include an improved activity programming model, an improved designer experience, a new flowchart modeling style, an expanded activity palette, workflow-rules integration, and new message correlation features. The .NET Framework also offers significant performance gains for WF-based workflows.
* Improvements to Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) such as support for WCF Workflow Services enabling workflow programs with messaging activities, correlation support, durable two-way communication and rich hosting capabilities. Additionally, .NET Framework 4 provides new WCF features such as service discovery, router service, simplified configuration and a number of improvements to queuing, REST support, diagnostics, and performance.
* Innovative new parallel programming features such as parallel loop support, Task Parallel Library (TPL), Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), and coordination data structures which let developers harness the power of multi-core processors.

Homepage - http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/

Size: 76.7 MB

Download .NET Framework 4 Beta x86

Download .NET Framework 4 Beta x86/x64

Micosoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 mark the next generation of developer tools from Microsoft.
Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 focuses on the core pillars of developer experience, support for the latest platforms, targeted experiences for specific application types, and core architecture improvements.

Visual Studio is a complete suite of tools for building both desktop and team-based enterprise Web applications. In addition to building high-performing desktop applications, you can use Visual Studio's powerful component-based development tools and other technologies to simplify team-based design, development, and deployment of enterprise solutions.

Designed to satisfy the latest requirements of developers, Visual Studio delivers key innovations in the following areas:
• Democratizing Application Lifecycle Management. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) crosses many roles in a development organization. Traditionally, not every role has had an equal part in the process. Visual Studio Team System 2010 continues to empower an organization to build a platform for functional equality and shared commitment across its ALM process.

• Enabling emerging trends. Every year the industry develops new technologies and new trends. With Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft delivers tooling and framework support for the latest innovations in application architecture, development, and deployment.

• Inspiring developer delight. Ever since the first release of Visual Studio, Microsoft has set the bar for developer productivity and flexibility. Visual Studio 2010 continues the tradition by significantly improving the experience for all software development roles.

• Riding the next generation platform wave. Microsoft continues to invest in the market-leading operating system, productivity applications, and server platforms to deliver increasing customer value. With Visual Studio 2010, customers will have the tooling support that is required to create amazing solutions around these technologies.

Visual Studio 2010 Product Highlights:

What's New in Visual Studio 2010:

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Suite is the next generation of Microsoft development tools. It provides the ideal set of tools for every team disciple who is working on your project: architects, designers, developers, database experts, and testers. When a team is building skills and getting guidance at every step of the project life cycle, they will collaborate better than ever.

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 1 is a collection of technologies that help team members collaborate efficiently and effectively to deliver a product.

This release includes the following new features:
* Work item hierarchy and linking
* Improved Agile template
* MOSS & WSS Dashboards
* Simplified reporting
* Change-tracking across branches
* Version Control Rollback
* Build queuing and pooling
* Gated check-in
* Simplified Setup
* Scale out of Web and data tiers
* Admin console
* Project move/archive/restore

Homepage - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/

Size: 5.20 MB

Download Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 1 – Web Installer

Download Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Suite Beta 1 – Web Installer

Visual Studio Team System 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 1

Download Part I

Download Part II

Download Part III

Download Silverlight 2 GDR1 Upgrade for Silverlight 2 RTW

Microsoft released Silverlight 2 in mid-October 2008 and, five months later, an upgrade is available for download. Hundreds of millions of downloads later, users have the opportunity to update Silverlight 2 to the latest version available. In this regard, Silverlight 2 GDR 1 is now available as the successor of Silverlight 2 RTW. Installing the latest release of Silverlight will take the technology from version 2.0.31005.0, which was the label for the October 2008 build of Silverlight, to 2.0.40115.0.

However, Silverlight 2 GDR 1 (2.0.40115.0) only brings to the table resolves for issues reported to Microsoft since the initial release, and not much else, especially since the Redmond company is now hard at work on the next iteration of the technology. “Silverlight 2 GDR1 now available,” revealed Microsoft Evangelist Tim Sneath. “Not a huge release this one, but we've just shipped an update for Silverlight 2 that fixes a number of minor bugs that have been reported over the last couple of months.”

Silverlight 2 (2.0.31005.0) was officially released to web (RTW) on October 13, 2008, however, Sneath revealed that in fact the gold version of Microsoft's alternative to Adobe Flash had been quietly released weeks before. At the bottom of the screen, via the embedded video you will be able to see Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, .NET Developer Division, talk about Silverlight 2 and Silverlight 3 and what users should expect at MIX09 starting on March 18, 2009 in Las Vegas.

Come next month, at Microsoft's Internet-centric MIX09 conference, the software giant will reveal new details about Silverlight 3. At the end of January 2009, Guthrie, revealed that Silverlight 3 was designed as a major update for Silverlight 2. In this regard, Silverlight 2 GDR 1 should be considered nothing more than a way for Microsoft to ensure that problems that survived past the RTW milestone of Silverlight 2 have been dealt with.

Silverlight 2 GDR 1 (2.0.40115.0) is available for download here.

Silverlight 3 in 2009

Having made available for download version 2 of its Adobe Flash killer, Microsoft is already moving onward to the next iteration.

Silverlight 2 was released to web in mid-October 2008, and, for next year, Microsoft is cooking the third release of what it is defining as a cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device browser plug-in, designed to support interactive and Rich Internet Application experiences. In this regard, Silverlight 3 is planned for availability in 2009.

“Silverlight 3 will include major media enhancements (including H.264 video support), major graphics improvements (including 3D support and GPU hardware acceleration), as well as major application development improvements (including richer data-binding support and additional controls). Note these are just a small sampling of the improvements - we have plenty of additional cool features we are going to keep up our sleeves a little longer,” revealed Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Platform.

Essentially, behind the plug-in, the technology of Silverlight is in fact a subset of the .NET Framework. Microsoft itself is committed to developing using Silverlight. Guthrie offered a variety of examples in this regard, from MSN Toolbar to Windows Live Photos and Windows Live Video messages. At the same time, the forthcoming Office 14 Web Companion RIA applications, which will accompany the successor of the Office 2007 System, will also use the technology.

“We shipped Silverlight 2 last month. Over the last 4 weeks, the final release of Silverlight 2 has been downloaded and installed on more than 100 million consumer machines. It has also recently been published to corporate administrators via the Microsoft SMS and Microsoft Update programs to enable them to automatically deploy across enterprises. Over 1 in 4 computers on the Internet now have some version of Silverlight installed,” Guthrie added.

Silverlight 2 RTW (2.0.31005.0) is available for download:
Microsoft Silverlight 2 2.0.31005.0 RTW / 1.0.30109.0 (link 1)
Microsoft Silverlight 2 2.0.31005.0 RTW / 1.0.30109.0 (link 2)