Testing with Visual Studio Test Manager (MTM) announcements

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  "Visual Studio 2010 Feature Pack 2" is now available to MSDN subscribers
  niveditabawa_MSFT Microsoft employee Tuesday, November 16, 2010 7:18 AM

  Visual Studio 2010 Feature Pack 2 is now available to MSDN subscribers.

  • Use Microsoft Test Manager to capture and playback action recordings for Silverlight 4 applications.
  • Create coded UI tests for Silverlight 4 applications with Visual Studio 2010 Premium or Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.
  • Edit coded UI tests using a graphical editor with Visual Studio 2010 Premium or Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.
  • Use action recordings to fast forward through manual tests that need to support Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 3.6.
  • Run coded UI tests for web applications using Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 3.6 with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Premium or Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.

  For more details, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=192777

Visual Studio Extensibility announcements

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  Where to post feedback, bugs, and questions
  Esther Fan Microsoft employee Friday, September 24, 2010 7:38 PM

  • This Forum - about VSX, MEF, EnvDTE, Text Templates (T4) and other non-modeling extensibility
  • For questions about T4 Toolbox, please use http://t4toolbox.codeplex.com/discussions
  • Visualization and Modeling Forum - for Visual Studio Ultimate architecture tools - UML, DGML, Architecture Explorer, Layer diagrams
  • Visualization and Modeling Extensibility Forum - for domain-specific languages (DSLs) and extending the modeling tools
  • Microsoft Connect Visual Studio - for bug reports and suggestions
  • The Community Content block at the bottom of any MSDN Library page to add your own tips, corrections or feedback about the content
• Link
  Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 SDK
  Carlos J. Quintero MVP Wednesday, October 16, 2013 6:47 PM

  The Visual Studio 2013 SDK includes project templates, tools, tests, and reference assemblies that are required to build extensions for Visual Studio 2013.

  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40758
  

• Link
  Visual Studio 2012 Update 4
  Carlos J. Quintero MVP Wednesday, October 16, 2013 6:45 PM

  This update is the latest in a cumulative series of feature additions and bug fixes for Visual Studio 2012.

  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39305

• Link
  Looking for additional T4 tools?
  Esther Fan Microsoft employee Friday, September 24, 2010 8:07 PM

  http://www.codeplex.com/site/search?query=t4&ac=8
  
  CodePlex is Microsoft's open source project hosting web site. You can use CodePlex to create new projects to share with the world, join others who have already started their own projects, or use the applications on this site and provide feedback.

MSBuild announcements

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  Debugging MSBuild scripts using Visual Studio 2010
  Jay Shrestha Wednesday, August 04, 2010 10:05 PM

  Take a look at the Blog post below by Dan Moseley.

  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2010/07/06/debugging-msbuild-script-with-visual-studio.aspx

Visual Studio Diagnostics (Debugger, Profiler, IntelliTrace) announcements

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  Channel 9 Video Showing new 2010 Debugging Features Available
  Andrew B Hall - MSFT Thursday, November 05, 2009 10:42 PM

  A Channel 9 video showing the new 2010 debugger features is available at: http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/10-4/10-4-Episode-34-Debugger-Enhancements-and-Improvements/
• Link
  Visual Studio 2013 new diagnostics features
  DanielMoth Microsoft employee Thursday, July 18, 2013 4:46 PM

  To learn what is new in Diagnostics for Visual Studio 2013, see this collection of links:

  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2013/07/18/visual-studio-2013-diagnostics-investments.aspx

Visual Studio Code Visualization & Modeling Tools announcements

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  Where to post feedback, bugs, and questions - Visual Studio Ultimate
  Alan Cameron Wills - Microsoft employee Wednesday, September 01, 2010 10:15 PM

  • This Forum - for Visual Studio Ultimate architecture tools - UML, DGML, Architecture Explorer, Layer diagrams
  • Visualization and Modeling SDK Forum - for domain-specific languages and extending the modeling tools
  • Visual Studio Extensibility Forum - about VSX, MEF, EnvDTE, and other non-modeling extensions
  • Microsoft Connect Visual Studio - for bug reports and suggestions
  • The Community Content block at the bottom of any MSDN Library page to add your own tips, corrections or feedback about the content.

  Thanks for posting your questions and feedback! We use them to help us improve the product and improve the help pages.

Visual Studio General Questions announcements

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  Forums Merged into This Forum
  John Boylan Microsoft employee Wednesday, December 19, 2012 7:07 PM

  The following forums have been merged into this forum: Visual Studio WPF/SL Designer, Visual Studio Guidance Automation Toolkit, Developer Documentation and Help System, Visual Studio Report Controls, and Visual Studio Editor. 

Visual Studio LightSwitch Extensibility announcements

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  LightSwitch Extensibility Toolkit for Visual Studio 2012 Released
  Beth Massi - Microsoft Microsoft employee Wednesday, March 14, 2012 8:12 PM

  We've just uploaded the updated version of the Extensibility Toolkit to the MSDN Extensions Gallery: LightSwitch Extensibility Toolkit for VS 2012

  The toolkit provides project types for creating new LightSwitch Extension Libraries that target Visual Studio 11 and includes templates for creating the following LightSwitch extensions: LightSwitch Business Type, LightSwitch Control, LightSwitch Data Source, LightSwitch Screen Template, LightSwitch Shell, and LightSwitch Theme.

  Updated versions of the eight extensibility samples have been uploaded to the LightSwitch Extensibility Samples for VS 2012 as well.

  Enjoy

  
  
  
• Link
  Visual Studio LightSwitch Extensibility Toolkit Now Available
  Beth Massi - Microsoft Microsoft employee Wednesday, July 27, 2011 10:08 PM

  Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch gives you a simpler and faster way to create high-quality business applications for the desktop and the cloud. Professional developers can extend the functionality of LightSwitch by creating extensions using Visual Studio 2010 Professional, the Visual Studio SDK, and the Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011 Extensibility Toolkit. The toolkit provides project types for creating new LightSwitch Extension Libraries and includes templates for creating your own themes, shells, business types, controls, screen templates, and data sources.

  You can access the toolkit plus walkthroughs, samples and documentation here on the Developer Center. Please make sure you follow the instructions carefully for installing the toolkit and the prerequisites.

  
    Extending Visual Studio LightSwitch

   

  HAVE FUN!

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  Welcome to the Visual Studio LightSwitch Extensibility Forum
  Beth Massi - Microsoft Microsoft employee Monday, August 23, 2010 10:17 PM

  Thank you for your interest in Visual Studio LightSwitch! This forum is for questions related to extending Visual Studio LightSwitch which is now available as of July 26th. For general questions and install troubleshooting please see the LightSwitch General forum.

  To get started learning how to extend LightSwitch please see :

  • Extending Visual Studio LightSwitch page on the Developer Center where you can download the LightSwitch Extensibility Toolkit and read walkthroughs on how to get started
  • LightSwitch Team Extensibility Samples that you can download to learn how to build many of the supported extension types
  • Advanced hands-on labs in the LightSwitch Training Kit where you will build and package an extension that can be reused by the Visual Studio LightSwitch end user

  Also make sure to visit the following resources:

  • Visual Studio LightSwitch Developer Center on MSDN
  • Visual Studio LightSwitch Team Blog
  • LightSwitch Beta Documentation on MSDN 

  If you have a bug to report or just want to make a suggestion please enter them through Connect: http://connect.microsoft.com/lightswitch

  Have fun!

Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) announcements

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  Visual Studio Tools For Applications (VSTA) 2012 Released!
  Xiaoying Guo Microsoft employee Wednesday, April 24, 2013 12:59 AM

  You can get the VSTA 2012 and VSTA 2012 SDK through the links below:

  • VSTA 2012
  • VSTA 2012 SDK

  In VSTA 2012 release, we are introducing several changes to the licensing model as well as how you integrate VSTA into your application:

  • There is no longer a licensing fee for the VSTA 2012 redistributable components. Your organization can distribute and use the VSTA 2012 redistributable components free of charge.
  • VSTA 2012 no longer provides its own Visual Studio Environment for authoring macros. Instead, Visual Studio 2012 Professional (or above) is required to develop VSTA macros and add-ins. VSTA has two primary modes of operation: with Visual Studio 2012 Professional (or above) installed and standalone. In standalone mode, VSTA provides your application with the means to load, compile, and run end user customizations. With Visual Studio 2012 Professional (or above) installed on your user’s machine, VSTA extends that functionality with the means to edit and debug those customizations.
  • VSTA 2012 supports .NET Framework 4.5.
  • VSTA 2012 presents a new and simplified API for integrating design-time experiences into your application using either managed (Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET) or unmanaged (Visual C++) code. The new VSTA hosting API simplifies tasks such as finding the installation of Visual Studio, launching the external process, and synchronizing save state, making integration significantly easier than previous versions.
  • With VSTA 2012, users can upgrade projects from Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Applications and Visual Studio 2008 Tools for Applications, compile, and run them.
  • VSTA 2012 no longer requires your application host to provide a runtime library to run. This gives you the flexibility to choose the method of running user code best tailored to the host application.

  Minimum System Requirement:

  • Windows 7
  • .NET Framework 4.5
  • 2 GB of RAM
  • 4 MB of hard disk space

  Runtime requirement for VSTA 2012:

  • Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 Update 1

  Requirement to enable editing and debugging for VSTA customization:

  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Professional, Premium or Ultimate
    

  
  
  

Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) announcements

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  VSTO for Visual Studio 2013 RTM
  Cindy Meister MVP MVP Wednesday, March 06, 2013 2:22 PM

  The newest version of Visual Studio - 2013 - is now available.

  For VSTO developers in particular, new in this release is the ability to code-sign VSTO solutions with SHA-256 certificates.  The latest release also supports Office 2013 right-out-of-the-box without requiring a separate download, and the Office 2013 templates can now target the latest .NET Framework 4.5.1.

  Visual Studio 2013 also delivers a broad set of tooling for the new apps for Office and apps for SharePoint.  Some highlights include the ability to create MVC SharePoint apps, enhancements around app-publishing, and a new set of tooling around Cloud Business Apps that integrate seamlessly with Office 365 services.  Learn more on the apps for Office and SharePoint blog.

  Tip: 
  Just like Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2013 continues to support the Office 2010 templates.  However, to reduce clutter, we have re-categorized the project templates according to the .NET Framework version that they support.  So, if you're looking for the Office 2010 templates, be sure to adjust the ".NET Framework" dropdown to ".NET Framework 4.0".

  

  We hope you enjoy Visual Studio 2013 and the many great features that this IDE has to offer!

  ~ Michael Zlatkovsky | Program Manager, Visual Studio Tools for Office & Apps for Office

  
  
• Link
  Roadmap for Apps for Office, VSTO, and VBA
  Cindy Meister MVP MVP Tuesday, June 18, 2013 4:40 PM

  Many folks have been asking about the emerging "apps for Office" model, and what it means for the future of VSTO.  Rest assured that VSTO continues to be alive and well.  In fact, many existing automation scenarios continue to be best served by VSTO for now.  At the same time, there are many exciting opportunities to look forward in apps for Office: for example, the ability to better integrate with web content and JavaScript/CSS libraries, support for additional programming languages and platforms, support for host applications beyond the desktop versions of Office, and new distribution, lifecycle management, and monetization opportunities through the Office Store.

  To learn more, please see the blog post:  "Roadmap for Apps for Office, VSTO, and VBA".
  

• Link
  Documentation for Office 2013 Ribbon controls now available
  Cindy Meister MVP MVP Thursday, January 10, 2013 7:49 AM

  I know the documentation for Office 2013 is still somewhat limited, but hopefully the following link will help.

  Microsoft Office Document: [MS-CustomUI2] Supporting Documentation - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=727

  From here, you should be able to download the *.txt files for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus the imageMso information. Once a file is downloaded, it can be opened in Excel to make it easier to look through all the controls.

  Best Regards,
  Nathan O.
  Microsoft Online Community Support

Visual Studio Setup and Installation announcements

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  Visual Studio 2012 and .NET Framework 4.5 Release to the Web
  Heath Stewart Microsoft employee Tuesday, August 21, 2012 7:28 AM

  Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 and the .NET Framework 4.5 have been released to the web for MSDN subscribers, as well as trial versions for all our customers.

  • MSDN Subscriber Downloads
  • Trial Downloads
  • Volume Licensing information

  More information about the many features in VS2012 can be found at the links below.

  • Visual Studio Development Center
  • S. Somasegar's blog
  • Jason Zander's blog

  If you have any problems installing Visual Studio or the .NET Framework, please download and run the log collection utility. When that completes, upload %TEMP%\vslogs.cab to an Internet share like http://skydrive.com, which gives you 7GB of free cloud storage using the same Microsoft account you use for these forums. Then share the URL here in this forum with a description of your problem.

Visual Studio Editor announcements

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  Choosing the right forum for your topic
  Brittany Behrens [MSFT] Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:03 AM

  To increase the chances of the right team seeing your topic, it's very helpful if you post in the forum that corresponds to your issue or discussion.  This forum (Visual Studio Editor) covers questions related to the core text/code editor *only*.  This includes issues related to typing, scrolling, IntelliSense, tooltips, syntax coloring, outlining, etc., as well as editor extensibility.  It does NOT include questions of the form, "How do I write code to accomplish XYZ task in language Foo?".

  For topics that are language-specific, database-related, or involve any type of designer surface, debugger, compiler, etc., please start with the forums listed below:

  - Web Development:  http://forums.asp.net
  - SQL/Database Development:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vstsdb/threads
  - WinForms:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winforms/threads (general issues) or http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winformsdesigner/threads (WinForms designer)
  - WPF Designer:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vswpfdesigner/threads
  - Debugger:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vsdebug/threads
  - Test Tools:  http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vststest/threads

  Thanks for your help in posting questions where they are most likely to be answered!

Visual Studio LightSwitch - General Questions announcements

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  Welcome to the Visual Studio LightSwitch Forum! (Please Read)
  Beth Massi - Microsoft Microsoft employee Monday, July 25, 2011 8:35 PM

  Thank you for your interest in Visual Studio LightSwitch! This forum is for general questions related to Visual Studio LightSwitch.

  Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question! Please treat all forum visitors with respect, and help out your fellow LightSwitch developers by providing answers whenever possible.

  Also please take a look at the following learning resources on the Lightswitch Developer Center (http://msdn.com/lightswitch).

  Learn to build LightSwitch Applications

  Watch the instructional LightSwitch "How Do I?" videos

  Become part of the LightSwitch Community:

  LightSwitch on Facebook

  LightSwitch on Twitter

  Visual Studio LightSwitch Team Blog

  Enjoy!

  
  
  
• Link
  LightSwitch HTML Client RELEASE Available in Visual Studio 2012 Update 2!
  Beth Massi - Microsoft Microsoft employee Monday, March 04, 2013 8:54 PM

  The LightSwitch team is proud to announce the release of the LightSwitch HTML client in Visual Studio 2012 Update 2!

  Users of the previous CTP4 release should be able to upgrade with no problems. Users of the older Preview 2 please read these important upgrade instructions before installing Update 2. 

  The new HTML5 and JavaScript-based client is an important companion to our Silverlight-based desktop client that addresses the increasing need to build touch-oriented business applications that run well on modern mobile devices. We’ve also enabled support for the new SharePoint Apps model, so you can now also build SharePoint 2013 apps with LightSwitch.

  Check out all the great resources to learn more:

  Developer Center – We’ve got a refreshed website with new HTML client resources and tutorials. The Developer Center is your one-stop-shop for the best LightSwitch team samples, videos, articles and documentation. Start with the basics or go deeper and explore the architecture and hosting options of LightSwitch apps.

  How Do I Videos – We also have started a new “How Do I...?” video series that shows you step-by-step how to get started building HTML clients with LightSwitch. Keep tabs on this page as we’re planning a lot more!

  JavaScript Samples – We also have created some JavaScript snippets that show you how to achieve many common coding tasks on the HTML client. If you’re new to JavaScript, these snippets should help!

  Ask questions in the General Forum – Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the previews! Now that we have released, we will continue our conversations in the LightSwitch General forum. The team is listening there.

  Enjoy!