Key Features of Visual Studio 2008 include:
- The development of Smart Client Applications
- The customisation of Microsoft Office Applications
- Building Windows Vista Applications
- Improved data handling.
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Visual Studio 2008
Professional Edition and Visual Studio 2008 Standard
Edition empower individuals and small development
teams to deliver connected applications that take
advantage of the latest technology while more
effectively meeting business goals. |
Microsoft Visual
Studio Team System 2008 is an integrated Application
Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution comprising
tools, processes, and guidance to help everyone on
the team improve their skills and work more
effectively together. |
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Moving to Visual Studio 2008
Early access to new releases is just
one of the valuable benefits of an MSDN subscription. If
you are not a subscriber, now would be great time to
find a subscription level that works for you.
MSDN subscriptions
provide a cost-effective way to license Microsoft
platforms and tools, receive technical support, and gain
priority access to new versions of Microsoft products,
including Microsoft operating systems, server software
and productivity applications.
With more than 250 new
features,Visual Studio 2008 includes significant
enhancements in every edition, including Visual Studio
Express and Visual Studio Team System. Developers of all
levels – from hobbyists to enterprise development teams
– now have a consistent, secure and reliable solution
for developing applications for the latest platforms:
the Web, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007
Office system, and beyond.
Learn more about Visual Studio 2008.
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General information:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 delivers on Microsoft’s vision of smart client applications by enabling developers to rapidly create connected applications that deliver the highest quality, rich user experiences. With Visual Studio 2008, organizations will find it easier than ever before to capture and analyze information to help them make effective business decisions. Visual Studio 2008 enables organizations of every size to rapidly create more secure, manageable, and reliable applications that take advantage of Windows Vista™ and the 2007 Office system.
Visual Studio 2008 delivers key advances for developers in three primary pillars:
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Rapid application development
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Effective team collaboration
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Breakthrough user experiences
Benefits
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Developing Smart Client Applications. Visual Studio 2008 delivers new and easy ways for developers to build smart clients. It provides a comprehensive set of tools and classes that simplify integrating smart clients with new or existing Web applications, and it enables local data caching for disconnected scenarios.
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Creating Microsoft Office Applications. Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) is fully integrated into Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition. Developers can now customize various Office applications, such as Outlook® and PowerPoint®, to improve user productivity and simplify deployment.
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Building Windows Vista Applications. Developers can easily leverage new platform technologies, and deliver more compelling applications to their customers, by effortlessly incorporating new Windows Presentation Foundation features into both existing Windows Forms applications and new applications.
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Handling Data More Productively. The introduction of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) and other data-access improvements enable developers to apply a consistent programmatic approach to data handling, perform data access with new data-design surfaces, and use built-in classes for the occasionally connected design pattern.
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Enabling New Web Experiences. Developers can easily create efficient, interactive Web applications with Visual Studio 2008. Seamless integration of the familiar ASP.NET AJAX programming model enables more efficient client-side execution, giving end users a more responsive Web interface. JavaScript IntelliSense and debugging further improve the development experience.
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Gaining an Improved Overall Developer Experience. Visual Studio 2008 delivers a better developer experience overall through the combination of significant product quality improvements, and changes to the way the most popular design surfaces return errors to the user. In addition, Visual Studio 2008 simplifies the user’s ability to adopt the toolset and framework separately by enabling developers to target different .NET Framework platforms.
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Improving Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). ALM features in Visual Studio provide great support not only for managing the entire software-development life cycle, but also for critical interaction with an enterprise application’s final end-users and IT stakeholders.
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Product Differences
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition and Standard Edition differ as follows:
Feature |
Standard Edition |
Professional Edition |
Build applications for the Microsoft Office system |
No |
Yes1 |
Build software for mobile devices |
No |
Yes1 |
Software Assurance-Eligible |
No |
Yes2 |
User
experience |
Simplified menus and defaults |
Full |
Documentation |
Online3 |
Online and Offline |
Class Designer and Object Test Bench |
No |
Yes4 |
Crystal Reports |
No |
Yes |
Server Explorer |
No |
Yes |
Unit
Testing |
No |
Yes5 |
Additional Tools Included |
SQL
Server 2005 Express Edition |
SQL
Server 2005 Developer Edition |
Notes:
1 Does not
include support for C++ projects
2
Software Assurance provided through MSDN
Subscription
3
Offline documentation available as a separate
download
4Limited
support for native C++ code, intended to be used only for visualization and
documentation
5Does
not include Code Coverage; C++ support is limited |
Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade
1. WORK WITH DATA IN A UNIFIED AND
INTEGRATED WAY
-
Be more productive by using a single approach to
querying and manipulating data that’s integrated
with the way you write code—in the programming
language.
-
Use a single model to query and transform XML,
SQL Server and object data with Language-Integrated
Query, helping you focus on what you need the
data to do rather than how you are going to access
the data.
2. WORK WITH USER INTERFACE DESIGNERS
-
Share user interface assets, such as design elements
and controls, with graphic designers that use
Microsoft Expression: both Microsoft Expression
Web (ASP.NET) and Microsoft Expression Blend
(WPF) are supported.
3. EMPLOY THE LATEST WEB USER
INTERFACE TECHNIQUES
-
New support for web server communication
techniques for AJAX/JSON-enabled websites.
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New ASP.NET controls that allow for better page
management and templates.
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Native support for RSS and REST by the Windows
Communication Foundation.
4. BUILD STUNNING APPLICATIONS FOR
WINDOWS VISTA
-
Build powerful Windows-based applications that
take advantage of Windows Forms and Windows
Presentation Foundation to make your applications
really stand out.
-
Benefit from Smart Client application enhancements
that improve deployment and disconnected scenarios.
5. BUILD HIGHER QUALITY APPLICATIONS
WITH INTEGRATED UNIT TESTING
6. ENJOY GREAT SUPPORT FOR DESIGNING
WEB APPLICATIONS
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Cascading style sheet and HTML editors have been
greatly enhanced for productivity gains.
-
Breakthrough JavaScript support has been integrated
within Visual Studio 2008, including IntelliSense
and debugging.
7. BUILD APPLICATIONS THAT RUN ON
MULTIPLE VERSIONS OF THE .NET
FRAMEWORK
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With previous versions of Visual Studio, you could
only build applications that ran on one version of the
.NET Framework; now you can use one tool—Visual
Studio 2008 — to build applications that work with
.NET Framework versions 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5.
8. BUILD OFFICE-BASED APPLICATIONS
-
Visual Studio 2008 Professional now includes tools
for Office development.
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Built-in tools help make Office look-and-feel interfaces,
like the “fluent ribbon”, quickly and easily.
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Click-Once deployment for applications built for
Office using Visual Studio 2008.
9. USE WORKFLOW AND COMMUNICATION
TOOLS
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Built-in tools for developing business logic using
Windows Workflow Foundation enables modeling of
real-world business processes in software.This
includes a workflow designer, project templates and
a workflow debugger.
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Built-in tools for implementing communications
software with Windows Communication Foundation,
providing support for a wide array of transports
and protocols.
10. BENEFIT FROM PERFORMANCE AND
STABILITY ACROSS THE BOARD
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Notes for licensing
Visual Studio 2008 Professional products are licensed according to the Microsoft Developer Tools licensing model, which licenses products on a per user basis. Each licensed user may install and use the software as many times as he/she wishes on his/her devices. However, a license for each product is required for each user who uses it on those devices. Through Microsoft Volume Licensing, you can license Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition as a standalone, License-only product, or with either MSDN Professional Subscription or MSDN Premium Subscription.
MSDN Subscriptions is the Software Assurance for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 products, offering comprehensive access to Microsoft tools and technologies, professional support services and expert information resources. MSDN Subscriptions are offered as the Software Assurance for Visual Studio in Microsoft Volume Licensing programs, through retail partners, and direct from Microsoft (varies by region).
MSDN Subscriptions are available in three levels:
- MSDN Premium is offered alongside Visual Studio 2008 Professional and Visual Studio Team System 2008 as the software assurance for client products;
- MSDN Professional is available to purchase with Visual Studio 2008 Professional;
- MSDN Operating Systems is available as a standalone product; it is not offered to purchase with Visual Studio.
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System requirements
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition System Requirements
Requirements vary for different combinations of components within Visual Studio 2008 Professional Editions. To install Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, you need:
-
Computer with a 1.6 GHz or faster processor
-
Visual Studio 2008 can be installed on the following operating systems:
-
Windows Vista (x86 & x64) - all editions except Starter Edition
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Windows XP (x86 & x64) with Service Pack 2 or later
- all editions except Starter Edition
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Windows Server 2003 (x86 & x64) with Service Pack 1 or later
(all editions)
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Windows Server 2003 R2 (x86 and x64) or later (all editions)
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384 MB of RAM or more (768 MB of RAM or more for Windows Vista)
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2.2 GB of available hard-disk space
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5400 RPM hard drive
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1024 x 768 or higher-resolution display
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DVD-ROM Drive
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Additional features may require Internet access. Fees may apply.
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Visual Studio 2008 Professional Upgrade Eligibility
Customers who qualify for the upgrade price include licensed users of the following Microsoft and competitor products:
Microsoft products:
-
MSDN Universal
-
MSDN Enterprise
-
MSDN Professional
-
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Special Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer
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Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect
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Visual Studio .NET 2002 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Developer
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Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Architect
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Visual Studio 97 Professional Edition
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Visual Studio 97 Enterprise Edition
-
Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Edition
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Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition
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Visual Basic 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
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Visual Basic 5.0 (or later) Enterprise Edition
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Visual C++ 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
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Visual C++ 5.0 (or later) Enterprise Edition
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Visual InterDev 1.0 (or later)
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Visual J++ Professional Edition 1.1 (or later)
-
Visual FoxPro 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
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Visual SourceSafe 5.0 (or later)
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Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition (or later)
Competitive products:
-
VisualAge, IBM WebSphere Studio, BEA WebLogic Workshop, Oracle Developer Suite, Oracle JDeveloper, Borland C++Builder, Borland Enterprise Studio, Borland JBuilder, Borland Delphi, Borland Kylix, WebGain Studio, WebGain VisualCafe, TogetherSoft Together ControlCenter, Sun ONE Studio, Macromedia Studio
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Visual Studio 2008 Standard Upgrade Eligibility
Customers who qualify for the upgrade price include licensed users of the following Microsoft and competitor products:
Microsoft products:
-
MSDN Universal
-
MSDN Enterprise
-
MSDN Professional
-
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional Special Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer
-
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect
-
Visual Studio .NET 2002 Professional Edition
-
Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Developer
-
Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Architect
-
Visual Studio 97 Professional Edition
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Visual Studio 97 Enterprise Edition
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Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Edition
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Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition
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Visual Basic .NET 2003 Standard
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Visual Basic .NET 2002 Standard
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Visual Basic 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
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Visual Basic 5.0 (or later) Enterprise Edition
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Visual C# .NET 2003 Standard
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Visual C# .NET 2002 Standard
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Visual C++ .NET 2003 Standard
-
Visual C++ .NET 2002 Standard
-
Visual C++ 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
-
Visual C++ 5.0 (or later) Enterprise Edition
-
Visual InterDev 1.0 (or later)
-
Visual J# .NET 2003 Standard
-
Visual J++ Professional Edition 1.1 (or later)
-
Visual FoxPro 5.0 (or later) Professional Edition
-
Visual SourceSafe 5.0 (or later)
-
Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition (or later)
Competitive products:
-
VisualAge, IBM WebSphere Studio, BEA WebLogic Workshop, Oracle Developer Suite, Oracle JDeveloper, Borland C++Builder, Borland Enterprise Studio, Borland JBuilder, Borland Delphi, Borland Kylix, WebGain Studio, WebGain VisualCafe, TogetherSoft Together ControlCenter, Sun ONE Studio, Macromedia Studio
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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 provides an industry-leading developer experience
for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and the Web. In addition,
it continues in the Microsoft tradition of development language innovation. To
enable evaluation of Visual Studio 2008, this page provides links to trial
versions of Visual Studio 2008. For more information, see
Visual Studio 2008 Product Information.
90-Day Trial Downloads
Free Downloads
In addition, you can download the following:
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