Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta 2 is now available!

Question

Today, we are excited to announce that the Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta 2 products are available for download on the Visual Studio Express Web Site!  The Visual Studio Express products are a set of development tools geared towards helping developers unleash their creativity while learning to develop Windows and Web applications.  They offer an easy-to-acquire and easy-to-learn experience in a simple package and they are free!

·         Download Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta2 Today
Get a jump start on learning to develop on the new .NET 4.0 Framework Beta 2 with the Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta 2 products.

·         Learn more about Visual Studio 2010
Learn about the many new exciting features in Visual Studio 2010.

·         Try Visual Studio 2010 Professional
The Beta 2 editions of Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Ultimate are available as free downloads as well.

·         Basic vs Expert Settings
Unique to Visual Studio 2010 Express … Express now starts up with a streamlined user experience that focuses on the most common commands by hiding some of the more advanced menus and toolbars.  All the Express features are still available via the Tools > Settings > Expert Settings menu.

Also look through the new Start Page inside Express for more resources and information on what’s new.  Enjoy and happy coding!

Noah Coad
Microsoft Visual Studio Program Manager

Answer 1

Greate news! :-)

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Answer 2

Great!
Is their licensing issue if I install VS 2010 Express Beta on my laptop having VS2005 Pro and used for professional development?
2010 would be of my interest only to do hands on practice and learn more about new framework.

Answer 3

Express 2010 is designed to work on a machine with VS 2005 or VS 2008 without interference.  But that's what beta are for, to try out and let us know if there are any issues.  As always, I'd recommend installing any beta inside a virtual machine (using Virtual PC, Hyper-V, Sun's VirtualBox, etc) just to make sure there is no loss of productivity.

Answer 4

Thanks for downloading and trying out the Beta!  We post it so that we can get your feedback and make sure it's in good working order for a final release.  Please post your feedback directly in our customer feedback database at https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio and mention that you're using Express 2010 Beta 2.  thanks!

Answer 5

Today, we are excited to announce that the Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta 2 products are available for download on the Visual Studio Express Web Site!  The Visual Studio Express products are a set of development tools geared towards helping developers unleash their creativity while learning to develop Windows and Web applications.  They offer an easy-to-acquire and easy-to-learn experience in a simple package and they are free!

·         Download Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta2 Today
Get a jump start on learning to develop on the new .NET 4.0 Framework Beta 2 with the Visual Studio 2010 Express Beta 2 products.

·         Learn more about Visual Studio 2010
Learn about the many new exciting features in Visual Studio 2010.

·         Try Visual Studio 2010 Professional
The Beta 2 editions of Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Ultimate are available as free downloads as well.

·         Basic vs Expert Settings
Unique to Visual Studio 2010 Express … Express now starts up with a streamlined user experience that focuses on the most common commands by hiding some of the more advanced menus and toolbars.  All the Express features are still available via the Tools > Settings > Expert Settings menu.

Also look through the new Start Page inside Express for more resources and information on what’s new.  Enjoy and happy coding!

Noah Coad
Microsoft Visual Studio Program Manager

Are there any information pages available on what Windows versions are supported with this beta release?

Also, could you please make the videos and walkthroughs available through something other than Microsoft Silverlight?  I'd prefer they be standard MPEG or AVI format files that Windows Media Player can already recognize.

I do not like having to install new software all of the time, and after the bugged automatic update of Windows Internet Explorer 8 was forced on me, I do not plan on checking any update that asks me to install a new browser or add-ons designed for that browser.  This means that Microsoft Silverlight is a no-go zone whenever I check for updates.

When it comes to new products or add-ons, Microsoft has a very big red "F" mark where I'm concerned.  Please make sure that you're not locking Windows users who understandably do not wish to experience the very latest bugged software releases out of what could be a very good Express Edition.

Cheers ...

Geoffrey Hyde

Answer 6

Hi Noah

I've installed C# 2010 Express and I don't seem to have the ADO.Net template so I can't add an entity frame work .edmx file.

I recall when I first converted the previous C# 2008 Express project that I could refresh the EF model and change the mappings but I was making plenty of changes to the underlying database that I decided to delete the existing model (brought across from 2008) and and it fresh in 2010.  However when I go Add / New Item ... I don't get an ADO.NET Template

Please help!

Mr Foo

Answer 7

Thanks for the feedback Mr Foo.  Sounds like it may be a regressions from C# 2008.  Could you please file a bug on it so that we can track it (and you can monitor its progress) at: https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio   thanks