Breaking News - Operating Systems
& Middleware:
Microsoft Announces Visual Studio
.NET 2003 Availability
Microsoft Corphas announced the general availability of the Microsoft .NET
Framework 1.1 and Visual Studio .NET 2003, the latest release of its
award-winning application development platform. The company also announced
availability of Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2000 64-bit. This trio of
products establishes a new standard in business value by providing an
integrated, interoperable infrastructure that delivers the industry-leading
performance, scalability and reliability required to support the budget
demands of today's lean information technology (IT) departments.
Together, Visual Studio .NET 2003, the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 and
Windows Server 2003 provide developers with a robust, dependable application
platform on which to build and deploy powerful, connected applications. Along
with new support for devices through the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework,
developers are empowered to build applications for a range of computers --
from mobile devices to centralized datacenter servers -- using a consistent
programming model and a unified integrated development environment (IDE).
"Customers face many unique business challenges and need an integrated,
comprehensive platform and productive tools to help them respond accordingly,"
said Tom Button, corporate vice president of the Developer and Platform
Evangelism Division at Microsoft. "Microsoft's application platform has the
set of services required to build modern applications, including transactions,
reliable messaging, a high-performance Web server and data access. By
integrating the .NET Framework 1.1 into Windows Server 2003 and building a
productive set of tools on the application platform, Microsoft is helping
businesses eliminate unnecessary layers of middleware, boosting performance,
security and reliability of the platform."
Customers Bring Vision to Reality With Visual Studio .NET 2003
At the launch, Microsoft highlighted several customers reaping the benefits
of
increased productivity and reduced costs with its integrated application
platform. They include Analog Devices Inc, Continental Airlines Inc, Cornell
University, JetBlue Airways Corp, the London Stock Exchange, Rentvillas.com
and SocialTech Inc.
- The London Stock Exchange worked with Microsoft and Accenture to build a
system using Microsoft's application platform to provide stock traders with
subsecond delivery of market information. "In the financial world, stock
market professionals rely on data to transact business worth billions of
dollars every day," said David Lester, chief information officer of the London
Stock Exchange. "Using Visual Studio .NET 2003, the .NET Framework and Windows
Server 2003, we implemented a system that will enable us to add to the range
of financial market data products and services we can deliver to customers,
and increase our revenue opportunities."
- JetBlue Airways used architectural guidance provided through Microsoft's
patterns & practices series and the .NET Architecture Center in its enterprise
architecture. "Microsoft provides us with a productive, end-to-end solution
that enables us to meet our business needs," said Ryan Plant, lead architect
for JetBlue Airways. "With the resources of the .NET Architecture Center, we
have the platform, tools and architectural guidance to build our
mission-critical solutions."
- Rentvillas.com used Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the .NET Framework to
create a scalable Web solution that consolidates the inventories of its
European partners into a single global distribution point. "We needed to
integrate a large number of European companies into a single framework in
order to provide real-time booking capabilities and greater product variety to
our customers. Our application now provides global customers with access to an
aggregated inventory through individually branded interfaces that support
multiple currencies and languages," said Kevin Pidduck, chief executive
officer at Rentvillas.com. "With Microsoft's robust development environment,
we were able to tackle this complex undertaking on time and on budget, with a
50 percent increase in developer productivity."
- SafeUSA is a national community alert system, and .NET-connected
application, introduced by SocialTech to address the need for timely
information among law enforcement organizations and government agencies.
"Community, government and law enforcement agencies need better technology to
more easily and quickly share information, and SafeUSA provides a new way to
help keep the United States and other nations and their citizens safe," said
Todd Bower, executive director of SocialTech. "Using Microsoft and Unisys
technology, we built a scalable, reliable and flexible application to meet the
growing demands of these agencies."
In 1999, the developer division launched the Visual Studio .NET Integration
Program (VSIP) to enable independent software vendors to tightly integrate
their products with the award-winning Visual Studio .NET integrated
development environment (IDE). VSIP is designed to provide unprecedented
Visual Studio integration opportunities and flexibility to participating
companies, giving customers a broader choice of solutions, improved
compatibility and consistent, deeper product integration that will result in
improved productivity among the shared customer bases.
In addition to the VSIP program, the Microsoft .NET Component Builder
Program
(.NET CBP) provides component and control vendors targeting the .NET Framework
with a program to meet their technical and marketing needs. Through VSIP and
the .NET CBP, Microsoft and its partners are providing more choices and
integrated solutions for customers to better meet their unique business goals
and needs. Both programs have flourished since their launch with more than 160
partners providing customers with a complete set of solutions to meet their
full range of development needs.
Microsoft also announced enhancements to MSDN, the Microsoft developer
network, that will make it easier and faster for developers to find the
resources they need. The enhancements include newly redesigned home page based
on customer feedback, five new Developer Centers including the .NET Framework
and languages such as Visual Basic, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.
The MSDN Developer Centers provide a starting point for finding the latest
information and resources, from both Microsoft and the broader community,
about Microsoft's development products and technologies. The RSS feeds enable
developers to receive notifications when new content is available on MSDN,
eliminating the need to check a series of Web sites every day for the latest
information. RSS is a dialect of XML for syndicating content and
information.
Pricing and Availability
Microsoft announced several compelling Visual Studio .NET 2003 upgrade
options
for a variety of customers. For a limited time, registered users of Visual
Studio .NET 2002 who do not already have rights to the next version under
annuity licenses or MSDN subscriptions will be able to acquire Visual Studio
.NET 2003 for $29 (U.S.), which includes the cost of materials, shipping and
handling. Customers using other industry development products will be able to
acquire Visual Studio .NET 2003 at a discount price similar to the
corresponding version upgrade price. In addition, Microsoft is offering
ViewSonic V37 Pocket PC devices, with an estimated retail price of $399
(U.S.), free to eligible customers who purchase and register their Visual
Studio .NET 2003 product or an active MSDN subscription by June 30, 2003, or
while supplies last. Details about this program are available at
msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/getpocketpc/. As always, the
.NET
Framework
1.1 is available for free download at the MSDN Web site,
msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/.
Visual Studio .NET 2003 is offered in three editions:
- Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect enables software architects
and senior developers to build large-scale applications for infrastructure
development. The estimated retail price for Visual Studio .NET Enterprise
Architect is $2,499 (U.S.); the upgrade price is $1,799.
- Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer enables development teams to
rapidly build XML Web services and enterprise applications that target any
device. The estimated retail price for Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Developer
is $1,799 (U.S.); the upgrade price is $1,079.
- Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional enables developers to rapidly build
XML Web services and next-generation applications for any Internet device. The
estimated retail price for Visual Studio .NET Professional is $1,079 (U.S.);
the upgrade price is $549.
Standard editions of Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++ .NET, Visual C# .NET and
Visual J#TM .NET are each available for a suggested retail price of $109
(U.S.). More information can be found at
msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy/pricing.aspx.
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