Updates have been released today for Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Windows Azure Platform Training Kit for developers.

• You can download the tools here using the Web Platform Installer.
• You can download the updated developer training kit here.

The release of the tools was made at Announcing the August 2011 Release of the Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.

New in this release of the tools:

• Profile applications running in Windows Azure.
• Create ASP.Net MVC3 Web Roles.
• Manage multiple service configurations in one cloud project.
• Improved validation of Windows Azure packages.

Updated Training Kit

The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit has been updated for the new tools. The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Windows Azure platform.

The August 2011 update of the training kit includes:

• Labs and Demos
  • All the labs and demos have been updated to leverage the new Window Azure Tools 1.4.
  • Updated SSMS dependency of affected labs to SSMS SP1.
• Windows Azure Deployment
  • Applied fix in the setup experience for the Windows Azure Platform Management Cmdlets.
  • Updated the Windows Azure Platform Management Cmdlets to the latest version.
• Building ASP.NET Applications with Windows Azure
  • Changed the way the membership password was encrypted to fix minor bug when deployed to azure.
• Exploring Windows Azure Storage
  • Updated the code to support deleting snapshots.
• Windows Azure CDN
  • Applied fix to a minor bug in the Overview section.

Key Updates To Azure Tools

With profiling support in the Windows Azure Tools you can easily detect performance bottlenecks in your application while it is running in Windows Azure.

If you want to maintain different settings for different deployment environments, the Windows Azure tools now support multiple service configurations in the same Windows Azure Project. This is especially useful for managing different Windows Azure Storage connection strings for local debugging and running in the cloud.

the new tools will help you avoid some of the common problems when you deploy your application to Windows Azure. If you are forgetting to include a local assembly in your package or you publish with a local Azure Storage connection string. The tools will let you know.

Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation