Sam Gentile's Blog (if (DeveloperTask == Communication && OS == Windows)

Via Rob Caron, the news that the Jan CTP of Visual Studio code name "Orcas" is available for download as a self-extracting install, or installed in a Virtual PC image. Check out the Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" Related CTP Downloads page. That page has a whole list of mouth watering goodness of which I'll list some of my faves:

• Extended, more powerful data APIs with the ADO.NET Entity Framework and LINQ to ADO.NET
• C# 3.0 Language Support: This CTP implements all of the C#3.0 language features from the May LINQ CTP including:
  • Query Expressions
  • Object and Collection Initializers
  • Extension Methods
  • Local Variable Type Inference and Anonymous Types
  • Lambdas bound to Delegates and Expression trees
• LINQ to Objects API
  • The LINQ to Objects API supports queries over any .NET collection, such as arrays and Generic Lists. This API is defined in the System.Linq namespaces inside System.Core.dll. Click here for more details about LINQ.
• ClickOnce improvements
  • This CTP delivers ClickOnce improvements for the deployment of Windows Presentation Foundation applications, alternative browser support and ISV rebranding.
• Support for advanced lifetime management of add-ins and their AppDomains
  • We’ve added the helper classes that manage the lifetime of add-ins, the objects passed between the host and add-ins, and even of the AppDomains the add-ins live in. By using the ContractBase and LifetimeToken handle, pipeline developer can let the hosts and add-ins act as if everything, including the AppDomain the add-in was activated in, was controlled by the garbage collector even though .Net Remoting would normally make that impossible.
• Client service support for Login/Logout, Role management and Profiles
  • ASP.NET 2.0 shipped with new application services for authentication, authorization and personalization. Most of these services are not tied to ASP.NET and can work in non-web applications. This CTP enables the use of these services in smart client applications for Logon/Logoff, Role management and profiles.
• A trace listener that logs event to ETW, event tracing for Windows in Vista
• LINQ over XML (XLinq)

P.S. I have added a new Orcas category to keep y'all up to speed on Orcas developments!