Microsoft claims Visual Studio 2008, code-named
Orcas, contains more than 250 new features and delivers significant
enhancements in every edition.Microsoft has moved to push out the next version of its
developer tool set to the community at large.
The software giant on Jan. 29 moved to make Visual Studio
2008 more widely available, announcing Visual Studio 2008's availability for
volume licensing, retail and download from the MSDN (Microsoft Developer
Network).
Microsoft initially RTM
(released to manufacturing) Visual Studio 2008 on Nov. 19, 2007. At the
time, active MSDN subscribers were able to download the product. Yet,
"With its inclusion on the January 2008 volume licensing price list, the
product is now available to sell and ship to your customers via Open, Select,
Enterprise Agreement (EA), and Full Packaged Product (FPP)," said a post
on the MSDN blogs page.
Company officials said Visual Studio 2008, code-named Orcas,
contains more than 250 new features and delivers significant enhancements in
every edition, including Visual Studio Express and Visual Studio Team System,
to enable developers of all levels—from hobbyists to enterprise development
teams—to build applications. The new development platform provides a consistent
solution for developing applications for the latest platforms, including the
Web, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Office system and more,
Microsoft said.
Click here to read more about Microsoft's plans for the Orcas IDE.
Visual Studio 2008 also included LINQ (Language-Integrated Query), which
enables developers do native queries without the use of specialized languages.
Also, VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) is now included in Visual Studio
2008 Professional and Visual Studio Team System. And Visual Studio 2008 builds
applications that work with .Net Versions 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5.
Application Development 
/ 5 
