I have worked with various incarnations of pre-release software installed on development machines. Getting the right combination of tools and versions isn't very straightforward. If you ever wondered which version of Windows Server 2012, Visual Studio 2012, Office Developer Tools and other Add-ons to install (and from where) read on.

Release Previews

• Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate
• Visual Studio Ultimate 2012 RC
• July 2012 update from Visual Studio 2012 Preview
• Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 Preview 
• (if you don't have Internet connection on your Development machine to install via the Web Platform Installer, here are direct links):
• Windows Identity Foundation SDK
• Windows Identity Extensions (**Make sure you have Windows Identity Foundation installed which is a Windows Server 2012 Feature**)
• SharePoint Client Components
• Workflow Tools 1.0 Beta for Visual Studio 2012
• Workflow Client 1.0 Beta
• Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 Preview Bundle
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office 2012 Design Time - Preview
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2012 - Preview
• SharePoint 2013 Preview SDK

RTMs

• Windows Server 2012 RTM Trial
• Visual Studio 2012 RTM Trial
• Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 RTM
• (if you don't have Internet connection on your Development machine to install via the Web platform Installer, here are direct links)
• Windows Identity Foundation SDK
• Windows Identity Extensions (**Make sure you have Windows Identity Foundation installed which is a Windows Server 2012 Feature**)
• SharePoint Client Components
• Workflow Tools 1.0 Beta for Visual Studio 2012
• Workflow Client 1.0 Beta
• Microsoft SharePoint Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 Preview Bundle
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office 2012 Design Time - Preview for RTM
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2012 Preview for RTM
• SharePoint 2013 Preview SDK 

 Cloud ;-)

• Sign Up for Office 365 Developer Preview Site and Install "Napa" Tools.

The obvious golden rule is not to mix RC and RTM versions of Windows Server, Visual Studio and SharePoint Developer Tools. Choose one and then stick to it. And please don't underestimate the Cloud option. It is great if you want to try out the new Apps model and you are not that keen on setting up the Infrastructure, App domains or have enough HW to run VMs. Everything is set up for you in the cloud!

Marek Samaj
Senior Consultant
Microsoft Consulting Services UK
marek.samaj@microsoft.com
Click here to see my bio page