Microsoft describes the new Express Editions of Visual Studio as "light-weight, easy-to-use, easy-to-learn tools" for developing Windows applications and websites. The five Express Editions range in size from 35 to 70 MB, and include "getting started" documentation. The new Express Editions are being offered on a promotional basis as free downloads for one year beginning today. Further details are
here.
Ballmer also touted Visual Studio Team System, which is described as "an extensible life-cycle tools platform that enables collaboration among software development teams." Team System represents an expansion of the Visual Studio product line "designed to address the growing complexity of the software development life cycle," according to Microsoft.
The event also launched SQL Server 2005 and highlighted the upcoming release of BizTalk Server 2006.
Appforge said its
Crossfire mobile application development platform will support Visual Studio 2005. Crossfire extends the capabilities of Visual Studio 2005 by allowing developers to write or refine applications in familiar Microsoft programming languages, according to Appforge.
Sybase, meanwhile, announced Visual Studio 2005 support for several of its
mobile application development products including PowerBuilder, PowerDesigner, PocketBuilder, and DataWindow .NET.
Microsoft is gearing up for a "200-city, 90-country" launch tour to introduce Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. Attendees will receive free software, according to the company. More information on the tour is available
here.
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