Now Available: Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate Virtual Machines with Sample Data and Hands-on-Labs

June 28 2010 Update: The RC bits expire June 30, 2010, making the original post below obsolete. I have posted a new virtual machine and hands-on-labs based on RTM bits. To download the latest virtual machine please click here.

Back in December we posted a set of virtual machines pre-configured with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 Beta 2, and 7 hands-on-labs. I am pleased to announce that today we are shipping an updated set of virtual machines using the Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate bits, a brand new sample application, and 9 hands-on-labs.

This VM includes everything you need to learn and/or deliver demonstrations of many of my favorite application lifecycle management (ALM) capabilities in Visual Studio 2010. This VM is available in the virtualization platform of your choice (Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007 SP1, and Windows [7] Virtual PC). Hyper-V is highly recommended because of the performance benefits and snapshotting capabilities.

Tailspin Toys
The sample application we are using in this virtual machine is a simple ASP.NET MVC 2 storefront called Tailspin Toys. Tailspin Toys sells model airplanes and relies on the application lifecycle management capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 to help them build, test, and maintain their storefront.

clip_image002

Hands-on-Labs / Demo Scripts
The 9 hands-on-labs / demo scripts which accompany this virtual machine cover several of the core capabilities of conducting application lifecycle management with Visual Studio 2010. Each document can be used by an individual in a hands-on-lab capacity, to learn how to perform a given set of tasks, or used by a presenter to deliver a demonstration or classroom-style training.

Software quality:

  • Authoring and Running Manual Tests using Microsoft Test Manager 2010
  • Introduction to Test Case Management with Microsoft Test Manager 2010
  • Introduction to Coded UI Tests with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
  • Debugging with IntelliTrace using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate

Software architecture:

  • Code Discovery using the architecture tools in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
  • Understanding Class Coupling with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
  • Using the Architecture Explore in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate to Analyze Your Code

Software Configuration Management:

  • Planning your Projects with Team Foundation Server 2010
  • Branching and Merging Visualization with Team Foundation Server 2010

Note that this VM does not include Visual Studio Lab Management 2010 capabilities, but you can download a separate VHD to work with that capability.

These labs can be downloaded here. They will also be making their way into the March refresh of the Visual Studio 2010 Training Kit.

How to use this virtual machine:
For your convenience, the same virtual machine has been ported to three different virtualization platforms. For instructions on how to use this virtual machine, please download “Working with the Visual Studio 2010 Virtual Machine.docx.” This guidance will help you get started with the virtual machine using the virtualization technology of your choice (Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007, or Windows [7] Virtual PC). It also includes the username and password for this virtual machine.

This image will effectively stop working on June 30, 2010 when the Visual Studio 2010 RC stops working. We will provide an RTM-based set of virtual machines and labs before then. You will also receive Windows activation messages while using this VM – this is because of the way Windows Server 2008 trial behaves and is to be expected, so you can ignore / cancel these activation dialogs when prompted. If you want to get rid of these activation warnings you can activate the image using your own product key (e.g. from your MSDN Subscription). You may want to do the same for the copy of Office which is installed, since it will be limited to 25 launches.

Downloading the virtual machine:
I suggest using a download manager for these files since they are very large. My download manager of choice is Free Download Manager. You can use your own favorite download manager, but you may need to adapt the instructions below as appropriate.

  1. Download and install Free Download Manager. This utility provides:

    • Auto-resume support for interrupted downloads.
    • Multiple simultaneous download streams for (usually) a much faster download experience.
    • As the name implies, it's completely free.
  2. Select the appropriate URL’s depending on your preferred virtualization platform and copy (CTRL+C) them to your clipboard.

    ###Select This Section and Copy It (CTRL+C) For VS2010 RC Hyper-V - Do Not Include This Line###
    https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0001.exe https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0002.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0003.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0004.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0005.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0006.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0007.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0008.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0009.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0010.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0011.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0012.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0013.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC\_HyperV.part0014.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC-ALM-Labs.zip https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/Working with the Visual Studio 2010 RC Virtual Machine.docx
    ###End - Do Not Include This Row In Your Selection###

    ###Select This Section and Copy It (CTRL+C) For VS2010 RC Windows [7] Virtual PC - Do Not Include This Line### https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0001.exe https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0002.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0003.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0004.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0005.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0006.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0007.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0008.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0009.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0010.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0011.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0012.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0013.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/3/4/F3457B48-3F08-4DC4-88DD-7D4A6418C724/VisualStudio2010RC\_Win7VPC.part0014.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC-ALM-Labs.zip https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/Working with the Visual Studio 2010 RC Virtual Machine.docx
    ###End - Do Not Include This Row In Your Selection###

    ###Select This Section and Copy It (CTRL+C) For VS2010 RC Virtual PC 2007 SP1 - Do Not Include This Line### https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0001.exe https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0002.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0003.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0004.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0005.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0006.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0007.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0008.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0009.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0010.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0011.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0012.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0013.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/F/D/9/FD9CE426-DF14-47BA-80C7-2AE10A89EA5A/VisualStudio2010RC\_VPC2007.part0014.rar https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/VisualStudio2010RC-ALM-Labs.zip https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/E/2/9E2CCC64-CF5A-4E47-9DC8-C6CEA9344740/Working with the Visual Studio 2010 RC Virtual Machine.docx
    ###End - Do Not Include This Row In Your Selection###   

  3. Launch the user interface for Free Download Manager (either from the Start Menu or via the system tray icon if FDM is already running).

  4. Click File -> Import -> Import List of URLs from Clipboard.

  5. When prompted for a download group, accept the default and click OK.

  6. You are now free to minimize Free Download Manager while the files download. By default, they will be saved to c:\downloads.
    Note: It may take up to 24 hours from when this post is published for the files to become available in your region as they replicate across our CDN. You can easily select all files within Free Download Manager and select “Start Download” if they fail the first time.

The download details pages contain more information on each of these releases.

Download details pages:

Visual Studio 2010 RC (Hyper-V)

Visual Studio 2010 RC (Windows [7] Virtual PC)

Visual Studio 2010 RC (Virtual PC 2007 SP1)

You can also download and install all of the Release Candidate software for yourself by downloading the installers from here.

Happy downloading! Please send feedback / questions to VSKitFdbk@Microsoft.com.