Microsoft Updates Developer Suite With Visual Studio 2012

Microsoft formally launched its next generation Visual Studio 2012 tools suite, and has also revealed an update for the flagship developer product – Visual Studio 2012 Update 1.

At a 12 September launch event in Seattle, Microsoft officially announced VS2012 before an audience of hundreds of developers in-person and thousands more via Webcast.

Developer Tools

Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 are the tools that form the backbone for developing on Windows 8. However, not only on Windows 8, but all of Microsoft’s platforms, the company said. Meanwhile, Microsoft will be delivering VS2012 Update 1 by the end of this year as part of a new strategy to update its developer tools at a new, more rapid cadence, Microsoft said.

“Visual Studio 2012 is the best development tool to enable developers to build ‘modern apps’ for connected devices,” Soma Somasegar, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s developer division, said in an interview with eWEEK. VS2012 supports development on Windows 8, Windows Server, Windows Azure and Windows Phone.

The new release of the toolset also supports team development and different methodologies like never before, Somasegar said. The application lifecycle management (ALM) capabilities in the product enable development teams “to operate and behave like a startup,” he said. “We enable teams to adopt Agile methods, continuous feedback, quality, and continuous deployment and evolution,” among other things, he added.

In addition, Somasegar said Microsoft has done of lot of work in the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE) because it is “home” to developers when they are building apps, and Microsoft wants them to be as comfortable as possible. For instance, Microsoft tweaked the VS2012 UI following feedback from developers. “We’ve done a lot of work in the IDE so that developers will be able to focus on what they need to focus on,” Somasegar said.

For instance, Microsoft has enhanced the product’s search capabilities. “Developers want to be able to easily search for a particular piece of code; so search is deeply integrated into the Solution Explorer,” Somasegar said.

Strong Download

Somasegar said Visual Studio 2012 has seen more than 600,000 downloads since its release to the Web, making this the fastest adoption of Visual Studio in Microsoft’s history.

“I think it’s because Visual studio 2012 is a fantastic product,” Somasegar quipped. Moreover, “developers are getting more and more excited about the platforms coming out of Microsoft,” he added. “Developers see a huge opportunity for leveraging the new platforms, and the Windows Store is a big part of that.” With the number of people running Windows north of 1.3 billion, Microsoft offers developers who choose to build apps for Windows 8 worldwide reach. Now that it has been released to manufacturing and the Windows Store is open for business, the message for developers is to “start building,” Somasegar said in a recent blog post.

Indeed, the opportunity for Microsoft developers has never been better, Somasegar said. Microsoft is refreshing just about every piece of its platform in 2012, highlighted by Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, but also including new versions of Windows Azure, SharePoint and Windows Server. And Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 were built hand-in-hand with the refreshed platform, he said.

Software Update

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2012 Update 1. With Visual Studio 2012, Microsoft will deliver continuous value to customers, adding new capabilities year-round. These update releases will be aligned with core software development trends in the market, ensuring developers and development teams always have access to the best solution for building modern applications.

VS2012 Update 1 will offer new capabilities in four main categories, including added support of agile teams, continuous quality enablement, SharePoint and Windows development, and will be made available later this month as a preview and later this year as a final release, Somasegar said.

Microsoft also announced the availability of Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop. Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop extends the Visual Studio tools offering for desktop applications by providing developers with Express tools for building powerful Windows Desktop applications in C#, VB.NET and C++. This offering enables developers to get started on building Windows desktop applications quickly and for free. Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop becomes available Sept. 12.

Initially, developers were up in arms at the notion that Microsoft would not make a free Express version of a desktop tools solution available. However, Somasegar said Microsoft always intended to deliver an Express SKU for desktop development, but it was just a question of when it would happen. That time is now.

In addition, Microsoft announced F# Tools for Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web, which provides developers with a free add on with VS2012 that enables development of F# on ASP.NET, Azure and cloud.

Microsoft also announced new Support for Windows Embedded. Windows Embedded Compact development is now fully supported in Visual Studio 2012, including access to ALM capabilities. These improvements will be available with the next version of Windows Embedded Compact, which is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2013.

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