Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 and the .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 are now available! You can download them here. Read more about this release on Somasegar's annoucement post.

What's new in WPF? Here's a non-comprehensive list:

  • Application Model

o        WPF builds on the new add-in model in .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 to allow developers to create visual add-ins, where add-ins provide UIs that are displayed by the host application. You’ll find the add-in types in the System.AddIn namespace in System.AddIn.dll, System.AddIn.Contract.dll, and System.Windows.Presentation.dll.

o        XBAPs can now run in FireFox.

o        Cookies can be shared between XBAPs and Web applications from the same site of origin.

o        Improved XAML intellisense experience for higher productivity.

o        Data binding and journaling by URI work together.

  • Data Binding

o        A new debugging mechanism makes it easier to debug data bindings. (new attached property: System.Diagnostics.PresentationTraceSources.TraceLevel)

o        The data validation model now supports the IDataErrorInfo interface. (new class: System.Windows.Controls.DataErrorValidationRule)

o        Improvements have been made to BindingListCollectionView to provide better support for binding to a collection that is of type BindingList and for LINQ.

o        The behavior of data bindings with a CollectionView over an IEnumerable has been improved to provide better performance and better support for binding to results that are produced by LINQ.

  • 3D
    • UIElement concepts such as input, focus, and eventing have been brought to 3D. (new classes: System.Windows.UIElement3D which is abstract, and ContainerUIElement3D and ModelUIElement3D in the System.Windows.Media.Media3D namespace)
    • Developers can now place interactive 2D content onto a 3D object. (new class: System.Windows.Media.Media3D.Viewport2DVisual3D)
  • Documents/Annotations
    • The annotations framework now exposes the capabilities for matching annotations with the corresponding annotated objects. (new interface IAnchorInfo and new class TextAnchor in the System.Windows.Annotations namespace)
  • Better IME support, RichTextBox extensibility (new property IsDocumentEnabled), performance improvements, and more!

We'll be sharing samples here for you to play with - stay tuned!