We are pleased to declare that the Release Candidate of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 will be supported as a “go live” release. This means that VS2010 RC has met high standards of quality for pre-release software, and we are licensing it for developing and deploying production applications.

We hope that you will consider using VS2010 RC for “go live” production purposes. As you use the release, we want to hear from you at our Connect site if you find any bugs.

In order to decide whether or not using VS2010 in a “go live” scenario is right for you, you should carefully understand the terms and limitations of the “go live” license. Start by reading the license terms for VS2010 RC, which includes the official “go live” licensing terms.

VS2010 RC is licensed for use through June 30, 2010 at which point you’ll need to upgrade to the final release to continue using the product.

The following guidelines should also help you understand the ways in which we are committed to helping you have a great experience with VS2010.

• We are committed to providing a smooth upgrade path from Beta 2 to RC and then to the final release (“RTM”) of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4. For Team Foundation Server, this means moving data from Team Foundation Server 2008 to Team Foundation Server 2010 Beta 2 and then eventually to Team Foundation Server 2010 RTM. Most importantly this means source code, work items, tests, builds and the warehouse.
• We give you permission to use VS2010 to create applications using runtimes which are “go live.” For example, the .NET Framework 4 is “go live” for this release and you can create applications both for internal use and external use. See the license terms for more details, including pre-release notifications and other details for distribution.
• Our Support team is staffed to help support VS2010 if you encounter problems. If you plan to use the release for “go live” please send email to vsgolive@microsoft.com so that we can register you for beta level support. If you already obtained an Access ID for VS2010 Beta 2, it remains valid moving forward as you upgrade to VS2010 RC. 
• Another option for requesting assistance is to visit MSDN Forums. The MSDN Forums are frequented by Microsoft MVP’s and members of the product group, and are a great place to search for issues submitted by others which might match problems you encounter.
• You should take adequate measures to back up and protect your data prior to upgrading to the RC. You should also have an ongoing data backup and protection plan in place during your use of VS2010.

Thank you again for your ongoing commitment to Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. With your assistance and ongoing feedback we can ship the best release ever!