The long road to Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, and .NET Framework 2.0 is finally winding down.
Microsoft has just released the final versions of these products to manufacturing. What does this mean?
Basically the code is finished... it just needs to be packaged and shipped, but thanks to the power of
the Internet, it also means you have immediate access to some of the best parts of these new products.
MSDN subscribers can now download the release version of both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are
no longer stuck dealing with Betas. But the news that's really important to us here at ASP 101 (and
probably to you as well since you're reading this) is that everyone can now download and install the release
version of the .NET Framework 2.0!
MSDN Subscriptions - For MSDN subscribers looking to download VS.NET 2005 or SQL Server 2005
The majority of you will want to download the ".NET Framework 2.0 SDK x86" version for your development machines,
but you'll need to download and install the ".NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)" first.
Here's Microsoft's description of each:
.NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)
The Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 redistributable package is the most recent update to the Microsoft .NET Framework and includes everything you need to run applications developed using the .NET Framework.
.NET Framework 2.0 SDK x86
The Microsoft .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) version 2.0 includes everything developers need to write, build, test, and deploy .NET Framework applications—documentation, samples, and command-line tools and compilers. You must install the .NET Framework Redistributable Package version 2.0 prior to installing the .NET Framework 2.0 SDK.
The bad news is that, while the redistributable package is only 22.4MB, the SDK is a whopping 354MB!
The good news is that, at least when I downloaded it, the downloads were moving fairly quickly and
I was able to get both in only a few minutes.
One more quick thing. If you're interested in learning more about the new products and eliminating
the need to download them in one fell swoop, check out the
Launch Tour 2005.
They've got dates scheduled across the country for the next couple months and it should be an
interesting event.
