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S. “Soma” Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division unveiled some eagerly anticipated developer tool betas today via his blog:
I am pleased to announce the release of Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2, and Silverlight 1.0 RC.
You can download Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 and the .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 from here. Over the next couple of days, we will make Silverlight 1.0 RC available for download as well.
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To add to this, we are also releasing a Go Live license for Visual Studio 2008, the .NET Framework 3.5, and Silverlight 1.0 to make it easier for you to start developing in our next generation of tools.
Visual Studio 2008 (formerly codenamed “Orcas”) is now feature complete and for Silverlight, Microsoft is also releasing a CTP of the Silverlight Add-In for Visual Studio 2008. For more details on Visual Studio 2008, this video featuring Somasegar and Scott Guthrie provides a useful overview. If you prefer text, Guthrie has more on his blog plus some last minute beta tips.
Update 7/27: The Silverlight 1.0 RC is now available along with some associated betas including the Expression Blend August preview.
Today at the Microsoft Financial Analysts Meeting, Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division had a little news to keep the analysts awake – Microsoft to Acquire AdECN:
Microsoft today provided a modest boost for two of its troubled initiatives when it lowered the US price of the add-on HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 from $199.99 to $179.99. Adding to the incentive, those who purchase between August 1 and September 30 will get 5 free HD DVD movies from a list of 15. Toshiba has been running the same 5 free movie promotion for some time on their line of standalone HD DVD players.
Today is the 2007 edition of the big all day Microsoft dog and pony show for financial analysts called Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting (FAM) 2007. If you are so inclined, you can tune in live on the web or cherry pick the presentation materials after the fact. Since it is tightly scripted by the Microsoft PR folks, I don’t expect much in the way of revelations, but hope springs eternal.
While we are on the subject of Microsoft financial results, I was trying to put my finger on why I found Microsoft’s 4Q results so unsatisfying when I spotted (via MSFTextrememakeover) this observation from independent financial analyst Trip Chowdhry that summarizes it succinctly:
“For people who think Microsoft is still a growth story, it’s disappointing. It’s a mature company in a mature industry with declining prices,” Chowdhry added. “For people who think Microsoft is a value company, what they delivered today was quite good.”
I guess it’s just corporate middle-aged spread.
