We also announced a simplified product lineup and pricing options for Visual Studio 2010 as well as new benefits for MSDN subscribers, including the Ultimate Offer, available to all active MSDN Premium subscribers at the official product launch on March 22, 2010.

What’s new?

• New testing options will help ensure quality code
• Enhancements to the integrated development environment mean that whether modeling, coding, testing or debugging, developers can use existing skills to deploy a growing number of application types
• Built-in tools for Windows 7 and Microsoft SharePoint 2010
• New drag and drop bindings for Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation
• interoperability with innovative technologies (such as those for the database, ASP.NET model view controller, unified modeling language, Expression, and multicore) allow developers to bring their visions to life

But wait! There’s more:

• With the .NET Framework 4, developers can experience immensely smaller deployments with up to an 81 percent reduction in the framework size when using the Client Profile. Other .NET Framework 4 developer benefits include additional support for industry standards, inclusion of the Dynamic Language Runtime for more language choice, new support for high-performance middle-tier applications (including parallel programming, workflow and service-oriented applications) and backward compatibility through side-by-side installation with .NET Framework 3.5.

How do I get “the Ultimate Offer?”

Active MSDN Premium subscribers will be transitioned to a higher-level Visual Studio 2010 with MSDN subscription at launch. This provides access to an unprecedented amount of resources, including test and development rights for Microsoft server software (including Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008), Microsoft Office, and premium Visual Studio tools.

What’s the new line up look like?

In the next version, customers will be able to choose from three main versions of Visual Studio 2010:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN
  The comprehensive suite of application life-cycle management tools for software teams to help ensure quality results from design to deployment
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Premium with MSDN
  A complete toolset to help developers deliver scalable, high-quality applications
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional with MSDN
  The essential tool for basic development tasks to assist developers in implementing their ideas easily

Also today, Microsoft unveiled new benefits for MSDN subscribers, including these:

• Unlimited access to Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 (upon release)
  a server product that drives down the risks and costs of developing software by enhancing team collaboration
• Azure Development
  which enables MSDN Premium subscribers to develop on the Windows Azure platform (Microsoft’s cloud services platform) with compute hours, storage, data transfers, SQL Azure databases and .NET Services
• Complimentary e-learning
  up to 40 hours per year, per subscriber to help developers access the wealth of online resources in a more streamlined fashion, Microsoft has also updated the MSDN Web site, which now features an updated user interface, a faster version of the MSDN Library and more community resources.

Video from our PR statement:

Next steps:

• Check out and download Beta 2
• Featured overviews and walkthroughs
• Tell us what you think so far
• Submit a bug

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