Contest tools and SDKs

  • Article

The Dare to Dream Different contest is connected to the launch of version 3.0 of the .NET Micro Framework. V3.0 is scheduled to be released later this month.  Currently a release candidate of the V3.0 SDK (with emulator) is available for download from the Microsoft Connect site.

The reason this is important is that v3.0 relies on Visual Studio 2008 + SP1, instead of Visual Studio 2005 as the previous version did.  More importantly, free evaluation, fully functioning versions of VS2008 Standard, Professional, and Team Suite are available for download.  Additionally, starting with v3.0, the completely free Visual C# Express tools support .NET Micro Framework!  

Support for C# Express is especially great news for the hobbyists who might not already have a copy of Visual Studio or who have it at work but company rules prohibit using it for personal purposes.

So - what's holding you back!? Put on your creative caps, submit your ideas and you just might code your way to fame and fortune! ;-)