5 great ways to learn about Visual Studio 2013

Article
11/01/2013

Want to get up to speed on the new features in Visual Studio 2013? From videos, to hands on labs, let’s look at some of the best resources that can help you get up to speed on the features that will help you most.

We have two great Visual Studio 2013 events coming up to help you get rolling with Visual Studio 2013. Save the date for the Virtual Launch event on November 13, 2013 and then register to attend the Canadian Developer webinar on how Visual Studio 2013 supports Application Lifecycle Management.

But you don’t need to wait for those events to start exploring Visual Studio 2013. Here are some great resources you can leverage to start learning today.

Want a basic overview of new features?

The Visual Studio team has put together a site where you can watch videos that demonstrate some of the new features and read a summary of the new features: https://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/visual-studio-2013

Looking for some hands on experience?

Brian Keller has created a number of virtual machines, along with hands-on labs and demo scripts you can use to try out Visual Studio ALM Features. You can find links to all his virtual machines, including one for Visual Studio here: https://aka.ms/ALMVMs.

Want to watch demos?

There are some great videos on Channel 9 showing off different aspects of Visual Studio 2013. Here’s a few to get you going:

Trying to figure out which edition of Visual Studio you need?

There is often confusion about which edition of Visual Studio includes which features. I find myself frequently referring to this comparison chart which explains exactly what features you get when you upgrade to Premium or Ultimate. There are even short videos that explain some of the differentiating features . If you scroll down to the features comparison chart, you can see exactly which Visual Studio 2013 new features are available in each edition.

Wondering where to find Visual Studio 2013 documentation?

MSDN is still your first stop for documentation on Microsoft tools and technologies. The MSDN Visual Studio 2013 documentation will provide you with links to documentation on everything from Blend, to ASP.NET, to Windows Phone, to .NET Framework 4.. You will also find code samples, how to videos, and more

Still can’t find what you are looking for? Ask an expert

Still can’t find what you are looking for? Ask your question in the Visual Studio Forums.