OK OK I understand this is not the newest of news, and it seems it took us forever to get this out the door. But thanks to patient users, testers and last but not least our UA folks the MPS SDK 2.0 has finally been released to the web about a month and a half ago.

So far for the good news now for the details on what is in it and how to use it.

First there are three MSI Packages in the ZIP you get to download from this URL

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ce3fc537-86ae-4802-9a05-43e2a27a4b45&DisplayLang=en

There is also a README.htm file in the ZIP, which you definitely should read, it tells all about how to best prepare a MPS Development environment and how to install and configure the SDK Tools for Visual Studio 2005.

The two MSI files in the Documents Folder are the Visual Studio integrated documentation sets for Visual Studio 2003 and Visual Studio 2005 respectively. Install the one that applies to your Visual Studio version only.

The Microsoft Provisioning System SDK.MSI installs the Add In for the Visual Studio 2005 IDE, Sample code and Provider project templates for both Visual Studio Versions if present.

I strongly recommend using Visual Studio 2005 to take full advantage of all SDK features and functionalities as well as .NET 2.0 for your provider code.

One known issue we found recently is that for providers developed in with .NET 2.0 it is necessary to register the DLL in the GAC in addition to RegAsm.Exe /Codebase registration. This seems to be an effect of a .NET 2.0 fix deployed through Windows Update.

What's in store for the next version?

The next version will be released after the release of the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.0 and Windows Based Hosting 4.5 Solutions. No fixed date has been set yet, once it has I will post it here.

Currently we are considering the following updates:

  • API documentation for the Terminal Services Provider and Namespace shipped in the Windows Based Hosting for Applications 1.0 Solution
  • API Documentation updates for changes introduced in Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.0 and Windows Based Hosting 4.5 Solutions
  • MPS Profiler/TraceView integration into the Visual Studio 2005 IDE

My next post will talk a about the changes to the development model and architecture in the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.0 solution.

Stay tuned and keep the feedback coming

Mike