As announced on the Windows Phone Developer Blog, a Windows Phone Developer Tools (WPDT) CTP Refresh (which includes an XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP Refresh as well) was released for download today.

Getting Started links

Here are links to help you get started installing and using the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh:

• Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh download page
• Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh setup direct link
• CTP Refresh release notes

Breaking changes

Please make sure to look at the Breaking Changes section of the release notes – there are a few key issues there that you will need to keep in mind if you have projects created with the WPDT CTP, including the following:

• Authenticode-signed assemblies included in the game project will cause the game to fail to deploy or load.  This issue and a workaround for it are covered in much more detail in this blog post.
• XNA Game Studio Windows Phone games will now default to landscape mode instead of portrait mode, but unfortunately, landscape mode games do not display correctly in the emulator yet.  You will need to specify a 480x800 screen resolution if you don’t already.
• Keyboard input is not working in the emulator in the CTP Refresh.  You cannot rely on keyboard input to control your game in the emulator in this release.

What’s new

The primary reason for the CTP Refresh is to support Windows Phone development in the final release of Visual Studio 2010 instead of in the VS 2010 RC.  For an overall list of what’s new in the CTP Refresh, I encourage you to take a look at the links in this blog post and this MSDN topic.

The CTP Refresh includes the following XNA Game Studio 4.0 changes:

• APIs for scalars and orientation (although, unfortunately, this functionality still does not work correctly in the emulator – landscape mode games will not render correctly in the emulator in the CTP Refresh)
• Support for incremental deployment of Windows Phone Game projects
• A new Visual Studio property page that contains Reach/Hi-Def profile selection, a game thumbnail chooser and a game startup object chooser
• Fixed some side-by-side issues with previous versions of XNA Game Studio.  After uninstalling the CTP Refresh, you will have to re-install the XNA Game Studio Platform Tools from %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft XNA\XNA Game Studio\v3.1\Setup\xnags_platform_tools.msi, but you should not need to do a full repair of previous versions of XNA Game Studio anymore
• Added better error reporting for some Windows Phone deployment and debugging scenarios
• Updated documentation

How to install

Here are steps you can use to install the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh

1. If you have the original Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP installed, you will need to uninstall it first.  You can do that by going to the Programs and Features control panel and choosing to remove the item named Microsoft Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP – ENU.  This item will remove the other components that need to be removed.
   
   
2. If you have the Visual Studio 2010 RC on your system, you will also need to uninstall that before you can install the WPDT CTP Refresh.
   
   
3. (optional) If you plan to also use another VS 2010 edition (such as Professional, Ultimate, C# Express, etc) in addition to WPDT, you should install them before you install the WPDT CTP Refresh.  If you install them after the WPDT CTP, you will be prompted to download and install a Silverlight update when trying to use them.
   
   
4. After removing the WPDT CTP and the VS 2010 RC (if you had it installed still) and installing other VS 2010 editions (if you choose to), you can proceed with installing the WPDT CTP Refresh.

If you encounter Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP Refresh setup failures

If you run into an installation or uninstallation failure for the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP, you can use the log collection tool to gather your setup log files.  This log collection tool will create a file named %temp%\vslogs.cab.

This tool does not gather XNA Game Studio 4.0 setup log files, so if your setup failure is caused by the XNA Game Studio 4.0 component, you’ll need to gather those logs separately by zipping up all of the logs in the folder named %temp%\XNA Game Studio 4.0 Setup\Logs.

Once you have gathered your setup log files, you can upload them to a file server of your choice (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and post a link to the log files in the forums to get additional support.

If you run into uninstallation issues with the WPDT CTP or the CTP Refresh, you can use the cleanup tool described at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/pages/9544320.aspx to remove XNA Game Studio or the Windows Phone Developer Tools.

Now that the final version of the .NET Framework 4 has been released, I have posted updated versions of my sample .NET Framework detection code.

I previously updated the sample code to be able to detect the .NET Framework 4 client and full profiles.  However, the previous sample code would detect that the .NET Framework 4 was installed even if a pre-release version was installed instead of the final version.  In this update, I’ve added the ability to detect the final version of the .NET Framework 4 and filter out pre-release versions.

You can find information about the sample .NET Framework detection code and download links in the article at http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/pages/9763379.aspx.

Now that the final versions of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 have shipped, Peter Marcu has posted an updated version of an article he wrote back in the beta 2 timeframe that describes improvements made to the .NET Framework 4 installer to improve the robustness, size and performance.

You can find the updated article at http://blogs.msdn.com/pmarcu/archive/2010/04/15/the-net-framework-4-installer-improvements.aspx, and I encourage you to take a look at it to learn more behind-the-scenes details about .NET Framework 4 setup.

The official .NET Framework 4 deployment guides for application developers and system administrators have been posted on MSDN, and I wanted to provide links here to help raise visibility for them.  Here they are along with some additional information about what is contained in each of them:

Microsoft .NET Framework 4 deployment guide for developers

You can find the deployment guide for application developers at the following location:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ee942965(v=VS.100).aspx

The deployment guide for application developers is targeted at developers creating applications that depend on the .NET Framework 4 and that will need to incorporate the .NET Framework 4 into their installation process.  It contains the following information:

• Installation Requirements
• Standalone Redistributable Packages
• Web Bootstrapper Packages
• Redistributing the .NET Framework 4 Using Visual Studio 2010
• Installing the .NET Framework Manually
• Chaining the Redistributable Package to your Application Setup
• Chaining the Language Packs to your Application Setup
• Detecting the .NET Framework 4
• Detecting the Language Packs
• Uninstalling Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Command-Line Options
• Troubleshooting

Microsoft .NET Framework 4 deployment guide for administrators

You can find the administrator deployment guide at the following location:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ee390831(v=VS.100).aspx

The administrator deployment guide is targeted at system administrators that manage software installation on corporate networks and who want to plan a deployment of the .NET Framework 4 to networks that they manage.  It contains the following information:

• Prerequisites
• Command Line-Options
• The Deployment Process
• Deploying the .NET Framework in a Test Environment
• Creating a Collection
• Preparing the Package Source Directory
• Creating a Package for the Redistributable Package
• Creating a Program with Setup and Installation Parameters
• Selecting a Distribution Point
• Creating an Advertisement
• Troubleshooting

As I noted in my previous blog post, the final versions of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 have shipped.  I wanted to also briefly note that the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP that was released a month ago at the MIX10 conference is not compatible with the final version of VS 2010.  You must continue using the VS 2010 release candidate build in order to use the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP.

Charlie Kindel posted some information on the Windows Phone Developer Blog with options you can pursue in the meantime, and he also discusses the timing for an upcoming refresh of the Windows Phone Developer Tools that will work with the final release of VS 2010.

As Soma announced on his blog yesterday, the final versions of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 have been released and are now available for download.  Here are some links to help you get started:

.NET Framework 4 links

• What’s new in the .NET Framework 4
• .NET Framework 4 application compatibility guide
• .NET Framework 4 full – web download bootstrapper
• .NET Framework 4 full – redistributable
• .NET Framework 4 client profile – web download bootstrapper
• .NET Framework 4 client profile – redistributable

Visual Studio 2010 links

• What’s new in Visual Studio 2010
• What features are available in what editions of Visual Studio 2010
• Visual Studio 2010 downloads home
• VS 2010 Ultimate Trial – web download bootstrapper
• VS 2010 Ultimate Trial – DVD ISO
• VS 2010 Premium Trial – web download bootstrapper
• VS 2010 Premium Trial – DVD ISO
• VS 2010 Professional Trial – web download bootstrapper
• VS 2010 Professional Trial – DVD ISO
• VS 2010 Test Professional Trial – web download bootstrapper
• VS 2010 Test Professional Trial – DVD ISO
• VS 2010 Team Foundation Server Trial – DVD ISO

Visual Studio 2010 Express Editions links

• Feature chart and download links for all VS 2010 Express Editions
• Visual Basic 2010 Express
• Visual C# 2010 Express
• Visual C++ 2010 Express
• Visual Web Developer 2010 Express
• ISO image containing all 4 VS 2010 Express Editions

Back in January, I wrote a blog post about errors that can occur while trying to install TurboTax 2009 because some .NET Framework 3.5 files and/or registry keys are missing from the computer.  Since then, I’ve heard from some people who have run into problems similar to what I described in my original blog post, and I wanted to provide a couple of updates based on what I’ve learned since then in case the information in my original blog post does not end up being helpful.

How to bypass the .NET Framework verification check in TurboTax 2009 setup

A few people who contacted me reported that they have the CD-based version of TurboTax 2009, and they were able to install by running the installer in the TurboTax 2009 Installer sub-folder instead of running the setup.exe at the root of the disc.  It appears that the .NET Framework verification check happens in the main setup.exe and that this check can be bypassed by running the installer in the sub-directory instead.

I have also heard from people who downloaded TurboTax 2009 setup from the Intuit web site instead of buying the CD, and that they couldn’t find a way to bypass the .NET Framework verification check with the downloaded version.  I haven’t yet been able to look at the structure of the downloaded version of the TurboTax 2009 setup package to see if there is a way to bypass the check in that version or not.

Verification error on non-English versions of Windows 7

Multiple people have reported problems with .NET Framework 3.5 verification during TurboTax 2009 setup on non-English versions of Windows 7.  There is a known problem with the verification logic used by TurboTax setup that is causing it to incorrectly search for some English files and registry keys even on non-English versions of Windows 7.  I fixed this issue in the verification tool on my blog, but it is still a problem within TurboTax 2009 setup.

If you run into this problem, I first suggest that you try to bypass the .NET Framework verification check by using the information listed above in this blog post.

If the bypass option does not work or if you have the web download version of TurboTax 2009 instead of the CD version, then you can download this zip file that contains the English files and registry keys that will be reported as missing by the TurboTax 2009 installer on non-English versions of Windows 7 and copy them to the locations that are expected by the TurboTax 2009 verification process.

You can do the following to use this zip file:

1. Download and extract the contents of the zip file to your desktop.
2. Double-click on the file named netfx35_english_registry.reg to add the registry keys to your system.
3. Create a folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Communication Foundation\en-US if it does not yet exist on your computer.
4. Go to the folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Communication Foundation\en-US in Windows Explorer, then copy the files named ServiceModelEvents.dll.mui and ServiceModelInstallRC.dll.mui from the WCF folder in the zip file to this folder.
5. Create a folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Workflow Foundation\SQL\en if it does not yet exist on your computer. 
6. Go to the folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\Windows Workflow Foundation\SQL\en in Windows Explorer, then copy the 4 .sql files from the Workflow folder in the zip file to this folder.
7. Create a folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\WPF\en-US if it does not yet exist on your computer. 
8. Go to the folder named C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\WPF\en-US in Windows Explorer, then copy the file named PresentationHostDLL.dll.mui from the WPF folder in the zip file to this folder.

If neither of the above is helpful

If you still see errors related to the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 during TurboTax 2009 setup even after trying the above, then please use the TurboTax verification tool and the steps described in my previous blog post to try to narrow down which files and/or registry keys that TurboTax 2009 setup is reporting as missing on your computer.

If you are unable to locate the sources of the errors by looking at the verification log files yourself, you can post your verification log files to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com) and reply to one of my blog posts with a link to the logs and I will try to take a look and see if I can figure out what is missing.

TurboTax 2009 errors that do not involve installation or verification of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

I have heard from some people who have been able to solve .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installation and verification issues and proceed with TurboTax 2009 setup, but who have then run into issues later on in the TurboTax setup process or who have run into issues trying to run TurboTax after the installation process completes.  Unfortunately, the only set of issues that I have the expertise to help troubleshoot are the ones related to .NET Framework installation and verification.  If you are running into other issues installing or running TurboTax, then I suggest that you search for similar issues on the TurboTax support site and/or contact the TurboTax technical support team for more detailed troubleshooting assistance.

<update date="4/13/2010"> Added a note about creating the folders if they do not exist for the non-English Windows 7 scenario </update>

Yesterday, we released several samples and mini-games to help you get started using the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP (which includes the XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP) to create games for Windows Phone 7 Series.  Here is some additional information about the samples and where you can download them:

• Reach graphics demo – this is the demo that Shawn Hargreaves used in his talks at GDC and MIX to show the 5 five built-in effect types provided by the XNA Framework 4.0 on Windows Phone (BasicEffect, DualTextureEffect, AlphaTestEffect, SkinnedEffect, and EnvironmentMapEffect).
  
  
• Snow Shovel mini-game – a simple Windows Phone game that shows how draw 2D sprites using SpriteBatch and handles player input using the accelerometer. You will not be able to use accelerometer input in the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator in the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP however.
  
  
• Primitives sample – an updated version of an existing sample that works with the XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP and demonstrates how to create a reusable class to draw 2D primitives (points, lines and triangles) on the screen.  The source code for the 4.0 version of this sample is available at this link.
  
  
• Primitives3D sample - an updated version of an existing sample that works with the XNA Game Studio 4.0 CTP and demonstrates how to create a reusable class to draw 3D primitives (cubes, spheres, cylinders, torus and teapots) on the screen.  The source code for the 4.0 version of this sample is available at this link.