VS/VSTS/TFS 2008 SP1 Beta is now available

Sorry for being a bit late to the game...  I should have posted yesterday but I've been drowning.  As you may already know, we released the Beta for 2008 SP1.  I'm eager to have you try it out and give us feedback.  You can find the list of new TFS features here.

I do, however, want you to keep in mind that it is a Beta and you shouldn't expect a completely seamless experience.  I installed the VSTS SP1 myself and it went pretty well.  The main thing I noticed was that I installed and it rebooted and then I had to install again (and reboot again) - the first install was .NET 3.5 SP1; the second was VSTS 2008 SP1.  After that, it ran great.

Before you install

It is imperative that you read the readme before you install.  It contains critical information about caveats for the Beta.

.NET 3.5 SP1 Readme - The .Net Framework update

VS2008 SP1 Readme - VS Pro or any of the VSTS role products.

VS Express Readme - All of the Express products.

Installing SP1 Beta

Visit this site for a great launching point to learn about, download and install SP1: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/cc533447.aspx

The VS patch will patch the .NET Framework, all of the Team System Role SKUs and the stand-alone Team Explorer.

The Team Foundation Server update will patch a TFS server, proxy or build server.  If you also want to upgrade (it's optional) to .NET 3.5 Beta 1 on those "servers", then you will need to separately also install the .NET 3.5 SP1 Beta patch.

Giving feedback

We will be taking Beta feedback until May 30th.  There are a variety of ways for you to give it.  We look forward to hearing from you.

SP1 Forum - http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=2136&SiteID=1

SP1 Connect - https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio

‘Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 Beta’ and .Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Beta´

Installation issues - http://blogs.msdn.com/heaths/archive/2008/05/09/visual-studio-and-net-log-collection-utility.aspx

This blog is the best source of up to date information on installation issues.

A couple of things that I've seen come up...

• Once you've installed it, you will need to make sure you "View installed updates" on Vista to see the SP1 installation in "Programs and Features".
• The Beta 1 client is fairly difficult to uninstall.  See the read me above for info.  The good news is that if you install it on your "real" machine, you don't really have to uninstall it.  The final release will install directly over top of the Beta.  The TFS server Beta 1, on the other hand, must be uninstalled before installing the final release, but fortunately it's pretty easy.
• There are some complexities around installing TFS with pre-release builds of SQL 2008.  Read this blog post if you want to try it.  This technique can actually be used even if you aren't using SQL 2008 but is required if you are installing a new TFS install against a SQL 2008 server.

Brian