Down to the Wire--Delivering the VS SDK, ver. 1.0 RTM

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What a long week! We are scrambling to finish the documentation for the RTM release of the Visual Studio SDK. There are so many good things happening this time that we really want to complete the overviews so that you can find them and start playing with the new features and capabilities.

Some of the things you will find interesting are:

· The directory layout and documentation contents have been reorganized to better group related extensibility technologies.

For example, Visual Studio Integration now encompasses all IDE integration areas, including the former Environment SDK, debugger and data extensibility, and the System Definition Model (SDM).

· Many new samples include features such as overviews, class diagrams, more thorough commenting, and unit tests.

· New Start menu shortcuts are included to reset the experimental hive and open the vsipsdk documentation.

· The Managed Package Framework (MPF) provides managed code classes that make it easy to develop VSPackages.

· The Visual Studio automation models enable you to easily extend and automate elements in the vsprvs integrated development environment (IDE), such as tool windows, projects and solutions, and the editor.

· Debugger integration includes COM interop support. The Text Interpreter sample has been updated for this version of Visual Studio.

· Data Extensibility improvements provides documentation, samples, and resources to help you implement Data Designer Extensibility (DDEX) providers and Data Source Reference (DSRef) objects.

DDEX providers let you expose third-party data source objects in vsprvs. DSRef objects let you transfer metadata from Server Explorer or another data source to the clipboard or your own application.

· The vsipsdk now includes the vsprvsts Extensibility Kit. The Extensibility Kit includes new samples and documentation about how to create, package, and install new test types in Team Edition for Testers.

· System Definition Model (SDM) is used to create models of distributed systems by defining system building blocks and capturing data pertinent to development, deployment, and operations of the system.

· The SDK download page on https://www.vsipdev.com/downloads has been updated to make it easier for developers to determine what download is appropriate.

The VS SDK will ship approximately every four months with new content. This allows the SDK team to provide updated samples, documentation, and enhancements on a regular basis. In addition, planning and review documents for each monthly Community Technology Preview are being posted to enable the community to understand what content is targeted for new SDK releases and to offer feedback.