Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta 2

Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch is the simplest way for developers of all skill levels to develop business applications for the desktop and cloud. With LightSwitch, you can build custom applications.Get a head start by using pre-configured screen templates that give your application a familiar look and feel. LightSwitch also provides prewritten code and other reusable components to handle routine application tasks, along with helpful step-by-step guidance. If you need to write custom code, you can use Visual Basic or C#. You can deploy to the desktop, browser, or cloud to share your application.

Applications created with LightSwitch support exporting data to Microsoft Office Excel for fast and easy sharing and reporting. You can also attach your application to existing data sources, which makes it easy to collect, analyze, and reuse information from a variety of data sources including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Azure, SharePoint, Microsoft Office Access (post-Beta), and other third-party data sources.

If Visual Studio 2010 Express, Professional, Premium or Ultimate is installed, you must first install Visual Studio 2010 SP1 before you install LightSwitch Beta 2. Just a note that this is a beta product and we recommend that you do NOT use this product on production data or production PCs.

If you have an MSDN Subscription you can download this today, March 16, 2011. The beta will be available to the general public on March 17, 2011.

To learn more please visit the Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwtich developer portal