Visual Studio 11, .NET Framework 4 Beta Offers Fast, Collaborative, Focused Development

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Microsoft has announced the beta of the “Visual Studio 11” and .NET Framework 4.5 will be available February 29. It includes a “go live” license, and a new free edition for small team collaboration.

The beta of the next version of Visual Studio  simplifies common workflows, reduces user interface complexities and streamlines application lifecycle management, improving collaboration for developers and teams.

This is developer tool to help integrate cross-functional teams and help you accomplish your goals more efficiently. It helps you write software with greater integration between applications, across devices and among services.

About “Visual Studio 11” Beta

Microsoft will release code-named “Visual Studio 11” Beta and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta on February 29.

These releases will be “go live,” meaning they will enable usage in production environments, according to S. Somasegar, corporate vice president, Developer Division, Microsoft in his blog post The Road to Visual Studio 11 Beta and .NET 4.5 Beta.

Visual Studio 11 Beta product lineup was also announced. You can learn about these products on the Visual Studio product website. The lineup includes Team Foundation Server Express Beta, which is free collaboration software that we’re making available for small teams, according to Jason Zander in his post Sneak Preview of Visual Studio 11 and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta.

New Features

“Visual Studio 11” offers an improved developer experience that includes a simplified user interface designed to keep developers focused on their work, with fewer distractions and easier access to the tools they need.

Reduced toolbar commands. To help free up precious workspace, Microsoft has reduced the number of default commands that show on toolbars in the user interface. These commands can still be accessed through the drop-down menus or added back onto the toolbar if the user wants them, but now the default work area is significantly larger. For example, the cut, copy and paste toolbar commands were removed because research has shown that most developers use the keyboard shortcuts instead.

Simplified graphics. “Visual Studio 11” eliminates the use of color within tools except in cases where color is used for notification or status change purposes. Now, the user interface competes far less with the developer’s content. Other user interface graphics, such as line work and iconography, also have been simplified to be less distracting. For more details, see Introducing the New Developer Experience.

Comprehensive search. “Visual Studio 11” features a comprehensive search capability, allowing developers to quickly find what they are looking for within commands and configuration options, tool windows, and open files.

Workflow hubs. New workflow hubs combine common tasks into one simplified window. Rather than force developers to interact with two or more tool windows to get tasks done, ”Visual Studio 11” streamlines common tasks so that many can be accomplished from within a single window.

Preview Tabs. Developers can view the contents of documents using new Preview Tabs, which get reused as the developer works. As a result, developers no longer end up with large numbers of extraneous documents open as a byproduct of common tasks such as debugging or browsing results.

About “Visual Studio 11”

“Visual Studio 11” is an integrated solution that helps individuals and development teams of any size to be productive and focused, to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues, and to turn their ideas into exceptional and compelling applications.

Soma writes, “All developers, from professionals to non-professionals, need great tools to create modern consumer and business applications that delight users and that span from client to cloud. Towards that end, I’m thrilled at the depth of alignment we’ve had in the development of Visual Studio 11 and Windows 8, which have been engineered together with these goals in mind. The effect is obvious: Visual Studio 11 provides a best-in-class experience for developing apps for Windows. We’ve applied the same level of thoughtfulness across all Microsoft platforms, so whether your app runs on Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Server, or Windows Azure, Visual Studio 11 and .NET 4.5 enable you to transform your ideas for those applications into reality.”

How to Get “Visual Studio 11” Beta

Download ”Visual Studio 11” Beta and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta on Feb. 29 and learn more about the new features by visiting https://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio. To see screen shots of the new user interface, visit https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/developer.

For more information, see

 

Bruce D. KyleISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation

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