A Sneak Peek at Visual Studio 2004 (aka. "Whidbey")
by John Peterson
Interested in finding out a little more about the next version of Visual Studio?
The announcements started today at VSLive! I wasn't able to be there, but
here's the note I got from my contact at Microsoft.
Nothing too earth-shattering, but there is some interesting stuff mixed in.
Oh... and be sure to check out that last link... it's the interesting one.
Hi John,
I wanted to let you know about today's keynote at VSLive! in NYC. Senior Vice President
of Server and Tools Eric Rudder announced the developer tools road map and the new Visual
Studio Industry Partner Program.
The updated road map details future versions of its development platform, Visual Studio
.NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework. Below are a few features that will be included
in the next release of Visual Studio .NET, code-named "Whidbey." For
additional detail Ive included links below to materials about todays announcements.
- Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey" will include enhanced debugging, no-touch deployment and other features such as Edit and Continue.
- The .NET Framework will enable existing .NET Framework 1.1 customers to immediately take advantage of support for 64-bit CPUs, advances in security and administration and improvements in performance and scalability without any source code changes.
- The "Whidbey" version of the .NET Framework will enable developers to build more-sophisticated solutions with new data and user interface controls as well as take advantage of deployment enhances making it simpler for applications to be installed and versioned.
- ASP.NET is improved with new controls for data access and visual appearance that reduces code in common scenarios by up to 70 percent, significantly improving performance while providing enhancements for more-robust and secure Web services.
- The .NET Compact Framework will be extended in Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey," enabling the creation of applications that run on the latest devices, including the Smartphone, Windows CE .NET 4.2-based devices and the newest versions of the Pocket PC.
In addition to the technical stuff, Microsoft also broadened the reach of its
developer partner programs to provide a more diverse mix of partners with a wide
variety of opportunities in the Microsoft .NET ecosystem. The new program,
renamed the Visual Studio Industry Partners (VSIP) program, provides three
tiers of membership that deliver customized benefits to a wider range of
partners, replacing the single-tier program that has led the industry since 1999.
Virtual PressRoom: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/vsliveny/
Developer Tools Roadmap press release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/Jul03/07-29InnovationListPR.asp
Visual Studio Industry Partner Program (VSIP) press release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/Jul03/07-29VSIPpr.asp
PressPass article on VSIP: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2003/jul03/07-29VSIP.asp
Developer Tools Roadmap WhitePaper: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/roadmap.aspx