Visual Studio Extensions for WinFX and Windows Workflow Foundation

Last week, we released the November CTP for WinFX.  This CTP works with the RTM versions of Visual Studio 2005 and the .Net Framework 2.0.  So, if you have been experimenting with WinFX, you can finally get rid of the beta 2 versions of Visual Studio 2005 and the .Net Framework 2.0.  You can download the CTP from here.

One thing that is a little confusing is that while WinFX referrs to Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), and while the WinFX runtime and the Windows SDK contain all three of these components, there are two seperate Visual Studio Extensions (VSE) to install.  One specifically for WF, and the other, which while named "for WinFX", really just includes WCF and WPF. It turns out that there are several of reasons for this.

SUPPORTED VERSIONS OF VISUAL STUDIO 2005

VSE for WinFX supports any version of Visual Studio 2005, including the Express versions.  VSE for WF, does not support Express. It only supports Standard and above.  This is because VSE for WF includes a graphical designer, while VSE for WinFX just includes new project templates and intellisense for the new XML schemas (XAML and service configuration).

PRE-REQUISITES

VSE for WinFX requires you to install the WinFX runtime and the Windows SDK first.  VSE for WF is self contained.  If these components have been installed ahead of time, it will use them.  If not, it will install the WF portion of the runtime and the WF portion of the SDK.

OFFICE 12 BETA 1

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services "3.0" (Beta 1), Office "12" servers (Beta 1), and "FrontPage 12" (Beta 1) will all require WF.  They will not require the rest of WinFX. 

-David