Microsoft Unveils Developer Tools for Vista, Office 2007

Published: November 8, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft on Monday unveiled a slew of new development tools designed to help programmers write new applications for the Web, as well as for Windows Vista and Office 2007, both of which are due to start shipping at the end of the month.

Not all of the new developer tools announced at the show are immediately available. The entire list of new tools includes:

• NET Framework 3.0, which enables developers to leverage the new Windows foundations (presentation, communication, and workflow) within Windows Vista, as well as the operating system's new Windows CardSpace identity management system
• Visual Studio 2005 extensions for the .NET Framework 3.0, which Microsoft describes as "a series of plug-ins and project templates that enable developers to use Visual Studio 2005 to build .NET Framework 3.0 solutions"
• a series of tools for Visual Studio 2005 that allows developers to build applications that leverage the Office 2007 suite
• a second beta release of the collection of tools known as ASP.NET AJAX (formerly codenamed "Atlas,") which is a free framework for developing AJAX (or Asynchronous Java Script and XML)-based application--or Web applications that quickly update on the screen without users having to refresh the page.
• a release candidate for SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, a new version of the database that provides just the essential capabilities in a compact footprint

During his keynote at the Visual Studio & .NET Connections conference in Las Vegas yesterday, Scott Guthrie, general manager of the developer division at Microsoft, said "the sky's the limit" with respect to the new tools.

"By embracing trends such as AJAX and delivering new technologies for Windows and Microsoft Office, we are opening the door to entirely new levels of innovation in the software industry while still allowing developers to use their existing skill sets," he said.