LAS VEGAS, Nov. 18, 2002 — Today at COMDEX Fall 2002, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the final beta of the company’s flagship development tool, Visual Studio® .NET 2003, formerly code-named Visual Studio “Everett,” and announced the product is scheduled to launch in April 2003. Microsoft also announced the release of the Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework for smart devices, and an upcoming license that will enable mobile application developers to deploy production applications on the .NET Compact Framework. Combined with the second release candidate (RC2) for Windows®
.NET Server 2003, these steps move Microsoft closer to delivering the latest version of an application server platform that enables customers to rapidly build and deploy dependable, connected solutions.
“Microsoft is committed to enabling developers to build enterprise applications for computers of all sizes,”
said Eric Rudder, senior vice president for the Developer and Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft.
“Our 2003 wave of products provides a consistent programming model for applications from devices to datacenter servers, enabling developers to focus on solving their unique business problems.”
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Advancements
Visual Studio .NET 2003 is the latest release of the award-winning Visual Studio .NET product focused on delivering enhanced reliability, stability, security and performance. In addition to these core improvements, Visual Studio .NET 2003 delivers advancement for enterprise, professional and mobile application developers.
Key advancements for the enterprise developer are the full integration of the .NET Framework with Windows .NET Server 2003; improved scalability with support for up to 32 processors; improved performance; and an additional set of tools for building applications using the latest Web services specifications such as WS-Security, WS-Routing and WS-Attachments.
Professional developers will benefit from increased productivity and performance features in Visual Studio .NET 2003. New features simplify the upgrade experience for users of the Visual Basic®
development system. Full support for Windows Forms enables C++ developers to make optimal use of powerful user interface capabilities, freeing them from having to write hundreds of lines of additional code. In addition, Visual Studio .NET 2003’s 98 percent conformance with the International Organization for Standardization’s C++ standard enables developers to take advantage of popular C++ community libraries such as Loki, Boost and Blitz. For Java-language developers, Visual J# (TM) .NET is now fully integrated with the Visual Studio .NET development environment, enabling rapid development of XML Web services and applications with Java-language syntax on the .NET Framework.
For mobile developers, Visual Studio .NET 2003 offers full support for the more than 200 Web-enabled devices, including Website META Language-capable phones, pagers and wireless PDAs via the ASP.NET mobile controls, supported in both Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Windows .NET Server 2003. In addition, full support for the .NET Compact Framework enables millions of Visual Studio developers to begin targeting the Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition, as well as a broad range of devices powered by the Windows CE .NET operating system.
Additional features in the Visual Studio .NET environment include improved load time, enhanced IntelliSense®
technology design-time assistance, and new managed data providers, including support for Oracle databases.
Developers Can Now Go Live Using .NET Compact Framework Gold Code
The newly released .NET Compact Framework technology is a platform and runtime that enables enterprise developers to take advantage of a single Visual Studio .NET integrated development experience to harness the power of managed code and XML Web services on mobile devices. In addition, in the coming weeks, beta customers of Visual Studio .NET 2003 will be able to deploy production applications based on the .NET Compact Framework via a Go Live license. The Go Live license will lift the beta software license restriction on deploying production applications, enabling developers to transform their enterprises through richer mobile applications immediately. More details on the Go Live license will be available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/device/ .
Pricing and Availability
For a limited time, registered users of Visual Studio .NET 2002 who do not already have rights to the next version under annuity licenses or MSDN®
subscriptions will be able to acquire Visual Studio .NET 2003 for $29, which includes the cost of materials, shipping and handling. Full pricing and availability for Visual Studio .NET 2003 will be announced later. MSDN subscribers can download the final beta of Visual Studio .NET 2003 at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Visual Studio, Windows, Visual Basic, Visual J#, IntelliSense and MSDN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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