Now that the Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate is available, I have been running across a few good resources for coming up to speed on 1) what has changed in the RC since beta 2 and 2) how to help you migrate from beta 2 to the RC.

I'm sure this list is incomplete so if you know of other resources please let me know and I'll add them here.

-          Bryan Krieger on upgrading from Team Foundation Server Beta 2 to RC

-          Michael Rigler on changes to the testing features

-          Scott Guthrie on the release candidate (important note for Silverlight 4 developers)

-          Jeff Beehler on “go live” support for the RC

And as you start using the RC, please remember that we'd love your feedback! This is our last big push for feedback prior to the official RTM, and you can make a real difference by telling us what you think. Here are two ways you can let us know how we're doing.

·         Release Candidate Survey

·         Visual Studio Connect Feedback Site

The instructions in this blog post are meant to accompany 10-4 Episode 41: Downloading and Installing the Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate. Please view that video for additional context, including a step-by-step walkthrough for installing the Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 Release Candidates.

I suggest using a download manager for these files since they are very large. My download manager of choice is Free Download Manager. You can use your own favorite download manager, but you may need to adapt the instructions below as appropriate.

Note that the ISO’s for Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio Ultimate are are multi-part RAR files. After you download these files run the first file in each set (the EXE) and it will extract the ISO file for you.

1. Download and install Free Download Manager. This utility provides:
   • Auto-resume support for interrupted downloads.
   • Multiple simultaneous download streams for (usually) a much faster download experience.
   • As the name implies, it's completely free.
2. For each set of files you want to download, repeat steps 3-7.
3. Select the list of files which corresponds to the package you want to download and copy (CTRL+C) them to your clipboard. You can copy an entire group of files at once. 
   Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate RC
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/D/1/BD10BB22-8FF4-4156-B833-7FEC1E495330/VS2010Ultimate_RC1_Total4Parts.part1.exe
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/D/1/BD10BB22-8FF4-4156-B833-7FEC1E495330/VS2010Ultimate_RC1_Total4Parts.part2.rar
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/D/1/BD10BB22-8FF4-4156-B833-7FEC1E495330/VS2010Ultimate_RC1_Total4Parts.part3.rar
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/D/1/BD10BB22-8FF4-4156-B833-7FEC1E495330/VS2010Ultimate_RC1_Total4Parts.part4.rar
   
   Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 RC
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/B/4/CB4B10AA-E530-4DD2-8BD5-16C70D3A7014/VS2010TFS_RC1_Total3Parts.part1.exe
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/B/4/CB4B10AA-E530-4DD2-8BD5-16C70D3A7014/VS2010TFS_RC1_Total3Parts.part2.rar
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/B/4/CB4B10AA-E530-4DD2-8BD5-16C70D3A7014/VS2010TFS_RC1_Total3Parts.part3.rar
   
   SQL Server 2008 Trial Edition (useful if installing Team Foundation Server for evaluation)
   http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/C/0/9C036510-3218-4258-8B03-67DC1D6A497C/SQLFULL_ENU.iso
4. Launch the user interface for Free Download Manager (either from the Start Menu or via the system tray icon if FDM is already running).
5. Click File -> Import -> Import List of URLs from Clipboard.
6. When prompted for a download group, accept the default ("Other") and click OK.
7. You are now free to minimize Free Download Manager while the files download. By default, they will be saved to c:\downloads.

Download links for other Visual Studio 2010 SKU’s (e.g. Agents, Test Professional, etc.) can be found here.