It’s released, but not yet available for MSDN subscribers. That said, you can download the Trial Edition and get your hands on it. My understanding is that you can product key activate it later, when it shows up on MSDN.

Click here For more information on Express Studio 3, including a top 10 list of features. I’m most excited about #7 …

Team Foundation Server Integration – share your Expression Studio project files with those of your colleagues by using check in and check out functionality with Microsoft Team Foundation Server integration.

It's generally known that if you want to run any tests, code analysis, or database project build/deployment that you need to install one or more Team Edition of VSTS on your build server. What's not so well known are the licensing ramifications around these scenarios.

Fortunately Jeff Beehler, Team System Chief of Staff, has posted on this subject.

To summarize:

If the users creating the builds are licensed users of the edition in question (or Team Suite), that license extends to Team Foundation Build and you don't need to purchase an additional license. One way to think about it is: the people that are using the Team editions need to be properly licensed which in turn ensures the that the build machines are covered as well. Users who merely queue (execute) and review the automated builds are only required to have a Team Foundation Server CAL.

10:35 AM (Los Angeles)

A fictitious developer, from the fictitious company "Fourth Coffee" is demonstrating the new, agile development features in Visual Studio 2008. She's showing off how to manage team development projects (a.k.a. team projects and work items), giving her tasks to make some changes to her code. Mostly she is showing off the split-screen editor, synchronization of code and designer, integrated design tools, and the new JavaScript debugger.

Oops, she just called it "Team Services" as she closed out her work item. Well, we get the idea.

I know. I know. This doesn't sound like a very interesting post, but it saved me time, and hopefully it can save you some too.

When you install Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft creates a "Visual Studio 2008 Command Prompt" shortcut, under that program group.

I like to take this shortcut and drop it on my Quick Launch toolbar:

The problem is that when you install the Team Foundation Server Power Tools (or other new command line utilities) you need to put them in the path.

Well, if you look at the file the shortcut calls, it's vcvarsall.bat, but don't bother editing that file because it calls vcvars32.bat, but don't bother editing that file, because it calls vsvars32.bat. If you go ahead and edit that file, you can find where the PATH is getting set, and add the Power Tools path to it:

@set PATH=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\BIN;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\Tools;C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5;C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\VCPackages;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2008 Power Tools;%PATH%

Man, I need to keep a closer eye on the work product over at .NET Rocks. I had meant to link up this transcript last Summer, but I dropped the ball. Apologies.

So, what this was was a VSTS panel discussion at Tech-Ed in Orlando last June, with Mike Azocar, Steven Borg, Doug Seven, Joel Semeniuk, and the hosts Richard Campbell and Carl Franklin.

Here's the panel (with Barry Gervin running the microphone)

And some of the audience (you can see Rob Caron and Mickey Gousset in the back).

There's some pretty good questions in there, especially those asked by yours truly!

Hmmm ... it still has that fresh .ISO smell.

Seems that we'll have something extra to be thankful for this week. VSTS 2008 Team Suite is available for download today!

I hope you are an MSDN subscriber, so you can access the subscriber downloads.

I just came across this download at Microsoft. It provides an introduction to the concepts and step by step instructions for creating and customizing TFS reports.

The zip file contains instructional PDF documents as well as several sample reports.

Thanks to the Team System Rangers (an elite squad of TFS experts inside Microsoft) for putting together this document, which serves as a single point of entry into the world of TFS Operations as well as Microsoft's recommended operational best practices.

So, start learning/mastering TFS operations by clicking here.

Microsoft has released a new version of VSTS Web Access Power tool. This release is a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of what will ultimately be the 2008 version of the VSTS Web Access Power Tool.

• Built against the TFS 2008 object model - In previous versions of Web Access you had to install Team Explorer 2005 on any machine you were installing Web Access on. With this version, you will now be installing Team Explorer 2008 instead. In some future version, Microsoft hopes to remove the requirement to install any version of Team Explorer.
• Custom control support - added support for web based work item custom controls and have included a folder of documentation and samples on how to create them.
• Build queuing - added UI for the new TFS 2008 feature of build queuing. You can start new queued builds and view the build queue (in addition to the preexisting abilities - like viewing build details).
• Localization support - added support for localizing the web interface. Microsoft will also be localizing text for the final 2008 Power Tool release.
• Bug fixes & Performance improvements - Microsoft has received a number of reports and done more testing on the current version of the Power Tool, and has fixed everything thus far.

This release (and the final 2008 release) can be used with either a TFS 2005 or a TFS 2008 server.  In either case, you will need to install a TFS 2008 Team Explorer on the machine you install Web Access on. Since TFS 2005 did not support build queuing, that functionality will not be available when this and future versions of Web Access are used with a 2005 server.

 

You can download it here and read more about it at Brian Harry's blog posting.

Microsoft's Patterns & Practices group recently released the final version of the “Team Development with Team Foundation Server” Guide. This guide has been in beta for the last couple of months.

 

It shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, Team System team members, and industry experts.

 

 

Some quick facts:

• 496 – Total number of pages
• 18 – Total number of chapters in this guide
• 11392 – Total number of downloads of the Beta version of this guide
• 8 – Number of attempts to get the Adobe build to work to generate the guide in .pdf format
• 60 – Number of external and MSFT contributors and reviewers

Download the guide from CodePlex.

Microsoft's Patterns & Practices group recently released the final version of the “Team Development with Team Foundation Server” Guide. This guide has been in beta for the last couple of months.

 

It shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, Team System team members, and industry experts.

 

Some quick facts:

• 496 – Total number of pages
• 18 – Total number of chapters in this guide
• 11392 – Total number of downloads of the Beta version of this guide
• 8 – Number of attempts to get the Adobe build to work to generate the guide in .pdf format
• 60 – Number of external and MSFT contributors and reviewers

Download the guide from CodePlex.

Yesterday, Microsoft released a tool to migrate from IBM ClearCase to TFS.

Find more information on TFS migration topics, keep an eye on this blog.

Ah yes, late August, time to go back to school - even for us adult geeks.

Fortunately, David Starr has provided us an exhaustive list of must-read books, organized by developer, tester, project manager, and executives.

... nothing specifically on VSTS however. I'll have to bug him about that.

The great news just keeps on coming from Microsoft. After a flurry of Team System announcements and downloads recently, we have yet another set of Power Tools to play with.

These tools are designed specifically for the Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects and provide the following capabilities:

• View class library projects on the Application Diagram (AD)
• View references to class library projects as connections on the Application Diagram
• Create class library projects from the Application Diagram
• Create references to class library projects from the Application Diagram
• Synchronize properties between class library projects and their representative applications on the Application Diagram
• Create and use class library applications and references on the System Designer (SD)

Fantastic. We haven't seen much out of the Architect tools, except for the SDM SDK in quite some time. I'm looking forward to it.

Download the CTP here. Note: you will also need to download Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2.

If you have any feedback on these tools, please visit the Architecture & Design forum.

Microsoft has published a detailed KB article about the problems fixed by SR1. The article includes a link to download the update.

Aside from many fixes, there are three major improvements found in this release:

• Cross-database references - support is improved so that you can reference objects within different databases by using database project references or by referencing a database metafile (.dbmeta). This support reduces or eliminates the cross-database reference warnings within a database project
• Improved file support within SQL Server file groups - you can define files within file groups as database project properties instead of having to create files and file groups within the pre-deployment storage script.
• Variables - a Variables page is added to the database properties. This new page enables you to define setvar variables for use in the deployment scripts.

Not only did Microsoft just recently post Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2008 (Orcas) a few days ago, but yesterday Microsoft made a CTP of the next generation of Visual Studio Team System (codename Rosario) available for download. Craziness ... which do I spend my time with? It's like having two mistresses to pick from.

Anyway, here are the details, if you want to start playing with Rosario: (keep in mind that it won't ship until some time [6,12,18?] months post Visual Studio 2008, so at least 2009):

• Read Jeff Beehler's blog posting
• Read the Rosario Overview whitepaper
• Download the VPC images (8+ files, 700mb each)
• Download the Rosario documentation
• Visit the MSDN newsgroups dedicated to Rosario
• Visit the MSDN homepage for Rosario

Finally, and most important, provide feedback to the team using http://connect.microsoft.com.

Over the past few years, a few of my clients have deployed Team Foundation Server Proxy to improve the performance of their remote/distributed teams. It boosts network performance by caching copies of source control files in a remote location, local to the developer needing the files but away from the main source control location. In short, the proxy helps each user avoid a costly download of the files to their workspace across the slower connection.

So why wouldn't this work for Team Build?

In today's VSTS chat, I asked if anyone had done this. I should have expected that Buck Hodges would have, and even blogged about it.

Still trying to decide if Team System is right for you and if you can afford it. I would say you can't afford *not* to have it. Check out this list of case studies from other companies and teams who agree with me.

Thanks to Rob Caron, for putting together this consolidated list of the "top" Visual Studio Team System case studies. They support a wide range of propositions by showcasing real customers who have gone through the adoption process and have great stories to tell.

Microsoft just released their Team System Web Access Power Tool (formerly known as TeamPlain). This is a Web interface to Team Foundation Server.

If you have team members that don't want Visual Studio/Team Explorer installed on their desktop, but they still want to participate with the project lifecycle, this is a great, web-based approach to getting everyone connected quickly/easily. Here are some of the features:

• Add new work items or edit existing ones
• Work with any type of work item, including custom ones
• Add new work item queries or edit existing ones
• View, download, upload, check-in and check-out documents on SharePoint team portal
• View reports, export as PDF or Excel
• Browse source control repositories, download files, view changesets, diffs, histories, and annotated views
• View build results, start or stop builds
• Search for keywords in work items
• Authentication Modes: Integrated Windows Authentication or Forms Based Authentication (Recommended to use with SSL)

Read more about it in Brian Harry's blog posting.

Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Architecture Edition, Development Edition, Database Edition, and Test Edition. In addition, discuss what's new in Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2.

 

Microsoft will be holding two sessions:

• Join the chat on Wednesday, August 1^st, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time. Add to Calendar
• Join the chat on Wednesday, August 1^st, 2007 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm Pacific Time. Add to Calendar

Nice work Microsoft. The download page just came online today. You can download Installation Disc Images, VPC Images, or Express Editions.

There's even a link to download the .NET Framework 3.5 Beta 2 at the bottom of the page.

Yet another Architect MVP has bitten the dust, to join the cooler crowd over here under the Team System MVP banner.

Martin Danner is an experienced developer, project manager, and consultant in the software and information technology field, Danner has an extensive history in the software engineering field. He worked as a senior software engineer at Micron Technology, where he developed applications for the Web and PC, and he managed a group responsible for configuration management and software quality for all corporate software systems. Danner has also worked as a software engineer, developer, and consultant for Northrop Corporation and Price Waterhouse. Danner earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He is a Microsoft Solution Architect MVP, a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer for the .NET Framework (MCSD.NET), as well as a PMI Project Management Professional (PMP).

It wasn't too long ago that Jeff Levinson defected from the Architect MVP camp. What is going on over there?

Bookmark this page. For the next several weeks, Scott Golightly (Microsoft Regional Director from Utah) and I will be publishing several instructional videos around Team System.

Currently, there are two videos posted:

• How Do I: Customize TeamPlain?
• How Do I: Create Custom Work Items in Team Foundation Server?

More coming each week. Stay tuned ...

This week Microsoft released the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server – Project Server 2007 connector as a CodePlex project. The project has been up for a few weeks, but is now being broadly advertised.

 

The TFS-PS2007 connector is designed to integrate the project management capabilities of TFS with Project Server 2007. It's been developed by the Visual Studio Team System Rangers in response to significant customer demand for a connector solution. Future versions of Team System will have native integration with Project Server, in the meantime this Connector solution is the best way to integrate the two Microsoft products. This solution builds on the previous PS2003 VSTS Connector, published on GotDotNet.

I posted a few case studies and other VSTS business value items in an earlier blog posting. There are a couple of new ones out now:

• Microsoft Visual Studio Team System ROI Case – KBC
• Microsoft Visual Studio Team System ROI Case – Social Networking

Today's chats were well attended, with many experts and well over a hundred guests. The quests came fast and furious, with some great answers given by the experts. It seems people are really anticipating Orcas (and Rosario) for those features that didn't make it into v1.

I have captured the entire transcripts (both expert and guest chats) in this PDF document (for the 10am PST chat) and this PDF document (for the 4pm PST chat).

Note: this is the raw content, copied and pasted from each chat, so you are getting it "as is".

Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Team Editions for Architects, Developers, Database Pros, and Testers. In addition, discuss what's new in the in the Visual Studio code name “Orcas” Beta 1 releases for Team Suite and Team Foundation Server.

Join the chat on Friday, April 27th, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time | Add to Calendar | Additional Time Zones

Yesterday, Microsoft's Developer Division (DevDiv) released beta 1 of Visual Studio "Orcas", which corresponds with the Connected Systems Division’s beta 1 release of the .NET Framework 3.5. Soma blogged this yesterday morning. Visual Studio "Orcas" enables developers and development teams to rapidly create Software + Services on the latest platforms, including the Web, Windows Vista, the 2007 Office System, and Windows Server "Longhorn".

As usualy, one of the most common questions about Orcas is, "When will it ship?". Well, here's Microsoft's official/public timeline:

Orcas Beta 1 will ship "Before TechEd Orlando in early June." - done! (see below)

Orcas Beta 2 will ship "In the North American summer."

Orcas RTM will ship "Before the end of the year."

BTW you can download the ready-to-go VPC images here (Team Suite) and here (TFS) of Orcas.

Just to catch you up, Microsoft's Team Foundation Server v1.0 (released March 2006) only works with WSS 2.0. WSS 2.0 is the old version. WSS 3.0 is the new version, and launched with Microsoft Office 2007. It's full of great new features, but alas TFS won't integrate with it naturally. Even installing TFS SP1 won't get you there.

Thanks to Brian Keller, a Technical Evangelist for Team System, who has published a document on how to integrate TFS with WSS 3.0. As Brian explains, keep in mind that this is a "release candidate" of guidance that will eventually be posted to MSDN.

Now I've heard of a lot of things, but an RC of a guidance document?

PEX = Program EXploration (a Microsoft Research project). I'm not really sure what this is, but a fellow RD, Barry Gervin, pointed it out to some of us MVPs recently after he visited a Microsoft Research "science fair".

Apparently, PEX automatically generates unit tests, allowing developers to find bugs early. In addition, it suggests to the programmer how to fix the bugs. Sounds too good to be true, but since it will enable "a new development experience" in Visual Studio Team System, I should probably keep an eye on it.

Maybe this will keep the TDD purists off of VSTS' back.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I wanted to recognize a couple of cool 2007 Jolt Award winners ...

• Microsoft and the VSTS/Database Professionals product group for "Database Engines and Data Tools" (read more here and here)
• Scott Ambler for his awesome book, Refactoring Databases.
• stpBA Storyboarding for VSTS 

In fact, here are all the winners.

I've been in Orlando this week, speaking at SQL Connections and have been derelict in my blogging duties, especially with regard to VSTS.

• Microsoft announced on Monday that they had acquired DevBiz (the company that produces TeamPlain), which has been the leader in browser-based access to Team Foundation Server, further boosting cross-platform access (and adoption). TeamPlain Web Access also enables a peripheral team member to browse project information and manipulate work items, source code, etc. I believe the new, official name will become "Microsoft Visual Studio Team System Web Access" (another mouthful). This acquisition also means that we will get to use TeamPlain for FREE (assuming we have a proper client access license for TFS). Read more about the acquisition on Brian Harry's blog and Microsoft PressPass.
  
  
• Microsoft published their Visual Studio Team System "Future Releases" roadmap, even beyond Orcas. So now, we can all speak the words "Rosario" in public. Rosario is the codename for the version of VSTS beyond Orcas. The roadmap is very thorough, even listing service packs and power tools, so you know exactly what delivery vehicle your feature or fix will be arriving in.
  
  
• Gert Drapers (the data dude) announced Service Release (SR) 1 for VSTS Edition for Database Professionals. He says that it's "in the works" and will be published sometime in Q2 of 2007 (let's hope April). He lists a few of the fixes and features that will be in the SR in a recent blog posting.
  
  
• Yesterday, Microsoft announced that unit testing will become a feature of the Professional edition of Visual Studio Orcas. This has been a passionately-requested feature by everyone in the world not running Dev, Test, or Team Suite editions. Finally, everyone who has Professional edition and up will be able to write and run unit tests. What about code coverage, that's still a question.
  
  
• The Patterns and Practices team has released updated prescriptive guidance on VSTS. JD Meiers lists many of the improvements on a blog post and you can find the guidance itself on CodePlex.
  
  
• Speaking of guidance, Microsoft recently published a 40-page branching guidance document which does a very good job of explaing branching and merging strategies for various size teams.

Next week there will be a two-day seminar on Visual Studio Team System (VSTS). Unfortunately, I won't be delivering the event.

If you attend, you can see how VSTS includes an integrated team server and customizable processes to help teams drive predictability, visibility, and control into their software development process. This seminar will provide an overview of features for project managers, business analysts, software architects and developers, database professionals, and software testers.

Agenda

• Day 1 - VSTS core concepts, work item tracking, architecture, and development
• Day 2 - VSTS databases, testing, reports, and customization

Register now; limited seating. Please call 1.877.MSEVENT (1.877.673.8366) or visit http://www.microsoft.com/usa/events and search on Event ID. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

March 26-27, 2007
Microsoft Corporation
250 S. Fifth St., Suite 180
Boise, ID 83702
Phone: 208.345.3860
Event ID: 1032329394 

Registration Link: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032329394&Culture=en-US

Recently, Microsoft and IESC Geekcorps have teamed up to send Microsoft developer experts to participate as volunteers in the “Access to International Markets Through Information Technology” (AIM-IT) project in Lebanon. They are currently in search of volunteer experts with expertise in Visual Studio 2005 Team System & Team Foundation Server, as well as MS Solution Framework, and general software development project management.

Those that volunteer with Geekcorps on this project will receive airfare, accommodations, insurance and a living stipend – all paid for by Microsoft. Volunteers’ only out-of-pocket expenses come from any incidentals or personal purchases. Arrangements will be made for you to travel from home to Lebanon (a passport is required) and you will be met at the airport by a program representative. The project’s duration will be approximately 6 weeks.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, visit this page.

It took me a couple of days to go through my photos, but I found a good one of the various Visual Studio Team System MVPs who attended Basta!

Here's Martin Kulov, me, and Ognjen Bajic. But, where's Neno?

Thank you to my friends at Basta! for recommending me as an alternate speaker for the Frankfurt .NET User Group meeting last week. Thomas "Teddy" Sohnrey was the coordinator (and my interpreter at times).

The topic was Effective SCM using Visual Studio Team System, and I enjoyed sharing my approaches and best practices to the many software developers in the room.

Of course, what I will remember most about the evening is the venue: Microsoft's office in Bad Homburg, and the free beer in the break room!

As you know, Visual Studio Team System tracks many different work item types, such as requirements, tasks, and bugs. Many agile teams like to use "sticky notes" to post on the wall to organize their backlog of requirements and tasks and plan their iterations. Even Joel on Software's company is doing this.

Since I have no life when I travel, I wrote 3M yesterday to see if they manufacture Post-It note sheets that can be fed through a laser/inkjet printer ... and they do!

They come in 25, 100, 300 or 500 sheet quantities and I checked a couple of sites, such as CDW, #1 Online Catalog, and Computers Unlimited. The prices range from $0.40 to $0.85/sheet, which might be cost prohibitive. Another cool option might be to use the stackable/sortable cards from 3m, although they are not sheet-fed, some printers might be able to "grab them". They come in a few different sizes.

Occasionally I'm asked about the business value of VSTS and TFS. I think it's pretty obvious, but I guess others need more convincing than just my word.

I've pulled together some links below that will help with this.

• Case studies - contains many ROI as well as technical case studies
• Customer evidence - contains some more case studies and testimonials
• Business value whitepaper - SDLC pain points and VSTS benefits
• Software lifecycles - a collection of scenarios providing evidence of VSTS benefits
• TFS Evidence Booklet - a PDF that was handed out at some of the roadshows

Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Team Editions for Architects, Developers, Database Pros, and Testers. In addition, discuss what's new in the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP).

Join the chat on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time.

If you've got some extra miles burning a hole in your account, cash them in to get to Frankfurt, Germany at the end of February and attend Basta!

Surprise ... I'll be speaking on Team System at the conference!

• VSTS Best Practices (part 1)
• VSTS Best Practices (part 2)
• Customizing and Extending DB/Pro Edition
• From Zero to Team System (in 5 days)

Hope to see you there!

Richard Waymire has publishes his long-anticipated whitepaper on permissions, security objects, and other security concerns centered around using the Database Professionals edition.

Over the years, we've had a few clients automate their build process by using Final Builder by VSoft Technologies. Much like Team (Foundation) Build, Final Builder is a powerful build & release management tool. Unlike Team Build, Final Builder has a slick UI allowing a build master to quickly design the builds.

Last summer, a new Final Builder version (4.2) was release which included more support for MSBuild and Team Build tasks. With that version, and following the guidance in this article, you can get the two products working together!

I just noticed that the new TFS Installation Guide (date: 4 Jan, 2007) is available for download from Microsoft. It contains updated help relating to SP1.

The TFS Administrator's Guide is still the Nov 2006 version however.

It looks like I'll be speaking at BASTA! in a few weeks.

I'll be delivering two regular sessions:

• Team System Best Practices (Mar 1, 8:30AM - 9:30AM)

• Customizing and Extending Team Edition for Database Professionals (Mar 1, 3:15PM - 4:15PM)

And one full-day workshop:

• From Zero to Team System (In 5 Days) (Mar 2, all day)

Thanks to Brian Harry and team for releasing the latest version of the provider.

The enhancements in this latest release include:

• Enable handling branched solutions in Visual Studio 2003
• Fixed issues to enable provider to support TOAD for SQL Server 2.0
• Enhanced the "Choose Folder in Team Foundation Server" dialog
• Fixed bug which prevented Properties Dialog from displaying local path
• Work Items Query list in the Checkin Dialog is loaded and saved on the disk
• "Get" operation performance improvements
• Miscellaneous bug fixes

Download the new provider here, and remember it is for use by anyone who owns a Team Foundation Server Client Access License (CAL).

Wanted to say thanks again to my friends at Wellmark and New Horizons in Des Moines for a great weak of VSTS enlightenment.

Here's the motley crew in the flesh.

Bookmark this page. It contains the starting point for the V1 (RTM) version of the DB Professional documentation.

This edition became available last Thursday on MSDN. Hazzah!

I've noticed when installing the edition, as well as the CTPs, that it also installs the "ProjectAggregator" ...

A quick search of the forums, finds a post by Robert Merriman (MS) explaining what the ProjectAggregator is ...

"We use the Visual Studio ProjectAggregator to integrate our package into Visual Studio. The ProjectAggregator is from the VSIP SDK and here is some information from the April 2006 readme file for the VSIP SDK:

There is a new ProjectAggregator2 MSI for project systems to leverage. A new aggregator (ProjectAggregator2) was added to the Visual Studio SDK to replace the following two aggregators:

• ProjectAggregator: included with Visual Studio 2005, used for project flavors (also known as project subtypes)
• NativeHierarchyWrapper: included in previous SDK CTPs, used by the MPF project samples

In addition to solving the problems the NativeHierarchyWrapper solved (source code control support for projects implemented in managed code), this new aggregator solve a limitation of the original ProjectAggregator (which did not allow for multiple levels of flavoring)."

 

Bill Essary, software architect at Microsoft just posted this MSDN article on new team project limit and monitoring recommendations for Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server.

The article includes a downloadable Excel spreadsheet (TeamProjectLimits.xls) containing experimental data which you can use to estimate the maximum number of team projects per server when you use customize work item types.

I had a great time last week representing INETA and presenting Team System topics to the San Gabriel Valley .NET Developers user group and the Bay .NET user group in Califrnia.

I really enjoyed chating with Mike Parker, an MIT grad, Army Reserves officer, sharp software developer, and the owner of this rolling WarDriving mobile-consulting "love van" ...

I just noticed that both the .CHM files were recently updated, and available for download.

• The Installation guide (TFSInstall-v61004.chm) is now version 8.0.61004 (10/6/2006) - 261 kb
• The Administrator's guide (TFSAdmin-v61101.chm) is now version 8.0.61101 (11/1/2006) - 2.2 mb

You'll find the updated hyperlinks at the bottom of our Widgets page.

You may have read my previous post about a company in Phoenix who connected their build process to an orb. Others use lava lamps.

Well, this professional geek used something a little more meaningful - an LCD-TV screen, which actually conveys useful information. Download the source code from his article (TV not included).

Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Team Editions for Architects, Developers, Database Pros, and Testers. In addition, discuss what's new in the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP).

Join the chat on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time.

EBay always makes me laugh. What some people will do to sell their product!

Take this example of an auction for Team Foundation Server ...

Look what the seller is throwing in to "sweeten" the deal ...

"USA Customers get FREE Maple Syrup and Crystallized Honey samples from Vermont. USA Customers get one 1.7 oz. sample of 100% Proof Grade A Maple Syrup from Maple Grove Farms and one 2 oz. sample of Grade A Crystallized Honey from Champlain Valley Apiaries."

I just ran across my Visual Studio 2005 Team System book in Hungarian. Very cool!

Check out the Interbook.hu site for more information. I'll see if I can't get a copy.

Check out Chris Birmele's MSDN article "Branching and Merging Primer" on MSDN.

The article is short and sweet, but states the case well for SCM and even includes a few branching patterns.

It's been a long time coming, and will address many common problems people have been running into. Get your hands on the beta and start giving feedback today!

Read Brian Hary's post for more details. You can find SP1 at the Microsoft Connect Site. (Remember that it is beta software)

Finally, my German last name on a book in German!

 

I picked this up when I was in Stuttgart last summer at the World Cup. This one now sits on my shelf next to the Russian version.

Reporting in Team System is handled by SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. As such, team members get to enjoy (and are restricted-by) the built-in report rendering extensions (CSV, Excel, HTML, Image, MHTML, PDF, and XML). What's missing from this list is the Microsoft Word DOC format and a richer Microsoft Excel XLS format.

This is where a product called OfficeWriter comes in. It enables you to use Excel or Word to create templates utilizing data markers and merge fields for databinding sections of the document to the various Team Foundation Server data items. After a quick configuration of Reporting Services, your reports can generate documents/spreadsheets based on these templates without the need for Microsoft Office on the server. There's also an integration with Reporting Services that will let you create these documents without any coding at all. Users will design their RDL reports using Excel or Word, without the need for Visual Studio or SQL Report Builder.

Check out their latest version of OfficeWrite (v3.6) at http://officewriter.softartisans.com

Here are my slides from yesterday's presentation at Tech-Ed 2006 SEA. Thank you to the many delegates who joined me for the session.

Visual Studio Team System Public MSDN Chat

Come and join members from the Visual Studio Team System product group to discuss features available in Visual Studio Architect, Developer and Tester editions and Team Foundation Server. There will be experts on hand to answer your questions, so we hope to see you there!

Join the chat on Wednesday September 6th, 2006 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific time.

To add this to your calendar, click here.

To see your local time of when this chat is, click here.

I heard a cool idea from an attendee of Devscovery last week. He said that his wife is a consultant who switches tasks throughout the day. Like most consultants, we have a hard time remembering what we did (or didn't do) throughout the day.

Their answer is to just run a screen-capture program like Camtasia or something like it, and configure it to shoot a snapshot every 5 minutes or so. This way you can play back at the end of the day and have a semi-recollection of what you've done!

Thanks to Eugene and his crew over at Attrice, the makers of the Team Build Sidekick and other Team Foundation Sidekick widgets. They have just published a nice article describing how they have used the Team Foundation Server Version Control object model and VS automation to implement their product's functionality.

Check it out.

If you are in the Seattle/Redmond area, join me tonight while we look at CTP 5 of the Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals.

I'll be starting at 7:15 pm tonight in building 40 at Microsoft. Click here for more details.

I was recently at a client site in Phoenix, teaching a VSTS/SCM course. They have integrated an Ambient Orb Device into their automated build process. If the build passes, it glows green. If it breaks, it glows red.

The orb is inside the developer manager's office, so the devs can peek inside. My understanding is that they have about 15 minutes after seeing red to fix the build and re-run it, before the manager gets an email message.

Fawcette (FTPOnline) just published a smattering of new articles on Team System, including my new article on the forethcoming edition for Database Professionals.

Brian Harry discloses some of the expected features and fixes in TFS SP1 as well as features in the new version of the MSSCCI provider (GetLatest on Checkout being one of them).

Read more here.

Here are some of the useful resources on the Web for the Team System Edition for Database Professionals:

• MSDN Site
• PowerToys Site
• Team Blog
• Thomas Murphy's Blog
• Cameron Skinner's Blog
• Matt Nunn's Blog
• Gert Draper's Blog
• Richard Waymire's Blog
• Sachin Rekhi's Blog
• MSDN Forum

Aside from MSF, Scrum, XP, and RUP, I've been finding some other methodologies and frameworks as I travel and meet with teams. Some might make for interesting Process Templates in Team System. Here are just a few, in no particular order ...

• Prince2 - a process-based approach for project management providing an easily tailored and scaleable method for the management of all types of projects. The method is the de-facto standard for project management in the UK and is practiced worldwide.
• Six Sigma - a methodology to manage process variations that cause defects, defined as unacceptable deviation from the mean or target; and to systematically work towards managing variation to eliminate those defects
• Lean Software Development - a translation of lean manufacturing principles and practices to the software development domain.
• Zachman Framework - a framework for Enterprise Architecture which provides a formal and highly structured way of defining an enterprise's systems architecture.
• DoDAF - a framework for development of a systems architecture or enterprise architecture (EA).

Added Later ...

• Team Software Process (TSP) - helps a high-performance engineer to ensure quality software products, create secure software products, and improve process management in an organization
• Personal Software Process (PSP) - shows engineers how to manage the quality of their projects, make commitments they can meet, improve estimating and planning, reduce defects in their products

Do you know any others? If so, provide links in the comments.

If nothing else, I now know how to spell my name in Russian!

Here's a link to view the back of the book as well.

Thanks to our friends at AVICode for sending me this copy. We enjoyed co-presenting with them at Tech-Ed in Boston.

We just finished up a VSTS training class in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thank you to my students and the Netscope training center for making this a fun class.

From left to right: Oliver, Shereen, Robin, Richard, Esendal, and Anton.

Wow, I'm honored! One of my sharper students at a recent talk in Reston, VA was actually paying attention to my discussion of extensibility and customization and has built a VSTS Check-In Policy to help track time working on team projects.

It looks promising. You can read about it at the VSTS Forums, or go to the GotDotNet site. I'll have it available on the Widgets page soon, too.

The secret is out! I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and not have to look over both shoulders before saying the words "Data Dude" or "K2".

That's right, Database Professionals will soon get a chance to be part of the Team!

Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals delivers a market-shifting database development product designed to manage database change, improve software quality through database testing and bring the benefits of Visual Studio Team System and life cycle development to the database professional.

Read more here.

It's a bit of an older case study, but one I haven't seen before. It's a quick read, as it goes through the situation, solution, benefits, and conclusion.

No, not Windows DNA, but XNA. Yes, it's an exciting new enhancement to DCOM bringing XML manifests and BizTalk schemas! Kidding ...

Microsoft XNA is a tool and set of technologies which will help game studios manage the growing complexities of their game content builds. Basically, it is designed to help game studios and publishers develop better games, more effectively, on all platforms. Microsoft unveiled the XNA Framework at the Game Developers Conference 2006.

Best yet, XNA Studio is based on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System. XNA Studio will extend and customize Visual Studio 2005 Team System to make it an ideal solution for game studios and publishers.

My inteview with Scott Swigart is out in the current Dr. Dobbs. You can read it online here.

Had I known that it was going to make the print version, I wouldn't have been so cheesy!

-Rich

Hat-Tip to Korby Parnell and James Newkirk, and the rest of the CodePlex crew. The beta is online, and you can read about it here and try it here.

What is it, you ask?

CodePlex is an online software development environment for open and shared source developers to create, host and manage projects throughout the project lifecycle. It has been written from the ground up in C# using .NET 2.0 technology with Team Foundation Server on the back end. CodePlex is open to the public free of charge.

Addison-Wesley has just released Sam Guckenheimer's book "Software Engineering with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System". Sam is a member of the Visual Studio Team System product team. I'm very interested in reading

Given Sam's extensive background in the industry, I'm really looking foward to reading this book!

Congratulations, Sam!

Join me in Minneapolis Thursday at the Microsoft Launch event of Team Foundation Server. It should be fun.

Here are the details.

Microsoft just put the 180–day Trial Edition of Team Foundation Server (English) up at the Microsoft Downloads site. It used to be on MSDN downloads, but they have made it more accessible for the rest of the world.

Get it here.

Wow, I wish more readers felt like Paul Lockwood. Read his glowing review of my Working with Visual Studio 2005 Team System book here.

I just got word that the Scrum for Team System: Beta 3 is now available. This build targets Team Foundation Server (Release Candidate). To download the installer, visit the Announcements section of the forum (by visiting http://scrum-master.com/vsts and clicking on the Forum link once signed in).

Check out Ashwin Karuhatty's blog for some good resources on migrating to Team Foundation Version Control. You should bookmark his site, because they'll be more good resources to come.

Microsoft has published this known issues page pertaining to the TFS Release Candidate. It should be read by all who are installing/upgrading.

You can also refer to the readme online as well.

I've spent some time this evening and put together, what I consider to be a fairly comprehensive list of Team System and Team Foundation Server add-ins, utilities, and full-on products.

www.accentient.com/widgets.aspx

Did I miss any? Let me know!

-Rich

TeamPlain Web Access is a web interface for Team Foundation Server that allows you to manage work items, documents, reports and source control repositories.

These guys also make a Team System plug-in for Eclipse and Visual Studio 2003.

MSDN subscription customers can download from the MSDN subscriber download site

Jeff Beehler posted these instructions to upgrade from Beta3/Refresh:

1. Backup your server and copy the data to a safe location
2. Download the Team Foundation Server RC
3. Download the Upgrade Utility
4. Uninstall Team Foundation Server Beta 3 Refresh
5. Follow the upgrade instructions, which are included with the Upgrade Utility
6. Install Team Foundation Server RC
7. Complete the post install upgrade instructions, which are included with the Upgrade Utility

For a reference to the major changes since Beta3 refresh, please see Jeff's posting.

Here is the link to the support site for my Team System book. It contains comments and corrections.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905038

Also, I just found an error today, thanks to a reader:

"In your book on page 179 you put a reference to a figure 8-1 as the Team Model comparison, but the figure shows the Process Model comparison.
Have you ever seen this error ? Do you have the right figure ?"

This should refer to figure 8-4

Microsoft just announced this a few minutes ago, literally. It appears they are on track for a Calendar Q1 release of TFS!

What:   Tech-Ed 2006
Where:  Boston, MA
When:   June 11-16, 2006
Why:     Dude, it's Tech-Ed!!!

Be sure to visit the site and get registered!

And, if you can make it, be sure to attend an awesome pre-conference seminar on customizing Team System.

This question was recently asked on the VSTS forums.

As Rob Caron explains, the integration depends solely on Borland's ability to integrate TFS into Delphi's IDE. Until then options include using the standalone Team Explorer, command-line utilities, or possibly the newly available MSSCII Provider for Team Foundation Server.

According to Jeff Beehler's recent blog posting, we should see an RC by the end of February. We're getting closer folks!

Teamlook brings together the ad-hoc communications domain, specifically messaging, and the structured software engineering team domain by integrating Microsoft Outlook 2003 with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System.

Visit Personify Design's site to download Teamlook and check it out.

Also, check out their TFS Outlook Starter Kit.

Microsoft has published a Web page (actually a KB article) for any comments, corrections, or errata on my book. Nothing there yet!

As reported on Jochen Seemann's blog, these tools are now available for download. Now the world can get started creating Domain Specific Language Widgets!

We've been getting some questions lately on this, and here are the answers:

• Partners at the Certified Partner level will receive the new Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition with MSDN Premium Subscription.  As before, this will include 5 MSDN licenses.

• Partners at the Gold Certified Partner level will receive the enhanced version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers with MSDN Premium Subscription. As before, this will include 10 MSDN licenses.

Notice that neither level include Architect or Test editions, nor do they include Team Suite. Read Ajay's post for more information.

In two recent articles, in eWeek and SearchVB.com, it seems that Ivar Jacobson (one of the fathers of UML and RUP) has recently joined the Microsoft VSIP program. He is working on the Essential Unified Process (Essential UP) that is going to be integrated into Visual Studio 2005. Essential UP will be a more agile and lightweight development process based on good practices and principles of both MSF and RUP.

Thanks to a student, Jim Munn, for originally asking the question "When adding a property to an object that uses System.Collections.Generic.List<> the designer doesn't show a relation to the class that the generic collection is typed to. Why not?"

So, let's assume you have two classes: Customer and Order

Notice how, by default, the association is not displayed between the Customer and Order class. By right-clicking either the mOrders field or Orders property and selecting Show as Collection Association, the association will be visualized:

My fellow Team System MVP, Willy-Peter Schaub from South Africa has been putting together many cool VSTS posters. These are print-ready JPG drawings, covering things like installation, security, and source control.

You can watch Steve Ballmer's keynote here. I've also uploaded a few photos from the event. My personal favorite was meeting Paul senior from Orange County Choppers (American Chopper).

Tip: To view my photos, select Conferences and Launch 2005 - San Francisco.

Now that VS/SQL/VSTS are available for download, I've been getting a lot of licensing questions, especially about MSDN/U subscriptions and the elusive Team Suite. Ajay Sudan put together a nice, consise FAQ at the VSTS forum.

Today is the day. Visual Studio 2005 (including all VSTS editions) and SQL Server 2005 are available to the public for download from MSDN.

The Team Foundation Server setup experience has been evolving for over a year now in response to feedback Microsoft has received. While they’ve made significant progress since the first release last year as Visual Studio 2005 Beta 1 Refresh with Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server, there’s still more that can be done. Microsoft has created a survey to ask some specific questions based on your experience with Team Foundation Server Beta 3. If you have attempted (successfully or otherwise) to install Team Foundation Server Beta 3, Microsoft invites you to participate in this brief online survey.

The survey can be taken anonymously, or you have the option of providing contact information should wish to be contacted about your setup experience. Partial surveys are not preserved, so please complete the survey before navigating away from the page.

Microsoft has listed the VSTS MVPs on their site. You can view their profiles here.

What is an MVP?
The MVP award is a one-year renewable reward given to just under 3,000 customers worldwide who are community leaders for their past year's accomplishments in a specific competency (ex: ASP.NET, C#, VSTS). A non-Microsoft employee is nominated by an employee or other MVP, their contributions to the community are evaluated, and they are voted on by an MVP Lead and PG Lead. Contributions can include answering MSDN Forum questions, writing articles & books, having an active & popular blog, working with the product teams, running a local user group, giving presentations, etc.   A quick intro to what an MVP is can be found on the MVP Website.

Team System MSDN Public Chat

Visual Studio Team System for Software Developer & Visual Studio Team System for Software Testers

When: Wednesday 10/19/05 @ 10am PST

What: The Profiler, Test Tools (Unit, Generic, Manual), Web & Load Testing, and Code Analysis (FxCop & PREFast).  We have questions for you, will answer questions from you, and will chat about the exciting new technology.

A bit belated in this posting, but Steven Borg and I are both Microsoft MVPs now! I attended the MVP summit a few weeks ago as an RD, and I've got to say that I am in some good company, and am really impressed at the level of support Microsoft gives to this program.

Seattle Code Camp is just around the corner - about 10 days away. Steven Borg and I are going to be presenting a couple of Team System and SQL Server 2005 topics at camp and we hope to see you there!

A friend of mine sent me this link. It's a pretty good refrence page on the core keyboard shortcuts.

I just found the URL to my forthcoming Team System book on Amazon. This is the revised edition that I just finished last month! Too bad there's no graphic, and the date is wrong. I was told it'll be up there the first of October.

Thanks again for all your support on this!

Update: A friend, Peter Nowak, from Germany pointed me towards the listing on Amazon.de! He also mentioned it in a recent blog posting.

This was a last minute thing that came up, but yesterday morning I presented a 1-hour session on Team System to this virtual conference. I understand that they had 4500+ attendees signed-up. I know that my session had 100 people in it, which is great for a conference that was devoid of any specific tools (most topics were on management, theory, and best practice).

(Click to expand)

I was just informed today that Microsoft has posted my revised chapter 3 (Team System Client Applications) on their Beta Experience Website.

Focused primarily on the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) developer communities, the beta experience contains the latest news, free resources, training, and a free newsletter. Note: You won't find United States in the dropdown list, so try United Kingdom.

Besides the main launch event in San Francisco, on November 7, there are a few others in the West. Please feel free to register using code: LaunchTour2005.
  
Tuesday, December 6
  Colorado Convention Center
  700 14th Street
  Denver, CO.  80202
  303-228-8000
 
Tuesday, December 6
  Anaheim Convention Center
  800 W. Katella Ave.
  Anaheim, CA.  90802
  714-765-8950

Here are some of the points from Soma's blog entry this morning ...

• We're 77 days out from launch
• In September, there will be a Release Candidate (RC1) of Visual Studio 2005
• This RC will be available to MSDN subscribers, early adopters, and beta customers
• Beta 3 of Team Foundation Server (TFS) will be released at the same time as the RC1
• TFS Beta 3 will including a "Go Live" license with technical support for Premier customers
• TFS Beta 3 will carry us through the launch of Visual Studio 2005
• TFS RTM will be in the first quarter of 2006

Please re-read that bottom bullet!

When
  09/08/2005 (8:30 AM - 5:00 PM)

Where
  Microsoft Boise, CW Moore Bldg, Basement Conference Room A, 250 S. 5th Street, Boise, ID 83702
  Click here for directions

Registration
  Registration is free; however, seating is limited. Click here to register and use code # 304061

Agenda and Session Details

Microsoft is entering into the software lifecycle tools market with the release of the new Visual Studio Team System product. Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) expands significantly on Microsoft's demonstrated successes in delivering highly productive tools, by offering businesses tightly integrated and extensible lifecycle tools to increase the predictability of their software development process. VSTS offers developers, architects, testers and project managers a seamless way to communicate and increase the effectiveness of software development and the successes of projects.

We have put together a free, day-long comprehensive technical training to help our customers understand the power and value of Visual Studio Team System. This session will cover the core features of the product and the details around Developer, Architect and the Test editions.

Some agenda topics:

• Designers – Class Designer, Logical Datacenter Designer, Application Designer
• Code Analysis, Methodologies and Source Control Management
• Unit Testing, Web Testing and Load Testing
• Build Server, Reporting, Work Item Management, Integration

Breakfast and Lunch will be provided. See you there!

For more information:
  Contact Jason Mauer (jmauer@microsoft.com)

David Anderson of Microsoft will be hosting a Webcast and Chat on August 18th. The Webcast will run from 11 AM to 12 PM Pacific Time (GMT -8), with the chat starting at 12 PM and running to 1 PM Pacific Time. Bring your MSF/CMMI questions and be there.

Thanks to Rob Caron for the original posting ...

Since I have nothing else going on in my life (ya - right), I thought I would start installing the July CTP of TFS and VSTS. This CTP requires a dual-installation, because you have to use the June CTP of SQL Server 2005 which uses a different build of the .NET Framework than VSTS July CTP. Anyway, I've run into some problems, which I will share with you ...

• You can install SQL 2005 June CTP on the same VPC as the DC, because of this problem.
• So, I had to create a separate VPC for the DC (at least it runs with < 200mb of memory allocated).

More to come, I'm sure ...

If anyone is planning on attending the PDC, be sure to come a day early and check out the great pre-conferences. I'll be presenting a full day on Team System development, Sunday the 11th.

See you in LA!

Thanks for attending Steve and/or my talks (if you did). Here are links to the presentations on SQL Server 2005 and Team System.

• Introducing Visual Studio 2005 Team System
• SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (BI)
• SQL Server 2005 for Developers
  

Thank you for attending my talks in Amsterdam this week. As promised, here are the presentation materials and sample code from my talks:

• DEV300 - Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server (TFS) Extensibility (PPT) - 2.6 mb
• DEV300 - Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server (TFS) Extensibility (Samples) - 2.4 mb
• SEC385 - Practical Security for Internet and Extranet Solutions (PPT and screenshots) - 4.3 mb
• SEC385 - Practical Security for Internet and Extranet Solutions (Samples) - 1 mb

I hope you enjoyed the talks. I know I did. Please email me with any questions!

-Rich

For those who missed last week's "Learning Visual Studio Team System" chat, and can't wait for Microsoft to publish the transcript. Here it is, in its full and unedited form.

Wanted to post a few photos of the book and my buddies.
  

The VSTS team is finishing up its first series of webcasts.  These provide both a wide overview of the product and a number of deep drill downs on specific technologies within the product.

You can find them here.

Not sure how long this has been online, but it is a pretty good summary.

By no means complete, but several people have asked for my RSS "master list" of Team System folk. Here it is

Visual Studio 2005 will be the most customer-focused suite of development tools ever released by Microsoft. This was the message delivered this morning by Prashant Sridharan, senior product manager of Visual Studio 2005. Prashant has been doing a lot of traveling and speaking lately. His schedule has taken him all over the world, including many stops recently in Europe, where he regularly delivered the message of Visual Studio 2005 and Team System to groups of 1500 or more people. We were glad he could stop by VSLive! Las Vegas to update us on Visual Studio 2005’s progress and features.

His message was clear. The core Visual Studio 2005 product is awesome. With the enhanced Microsoft languages, their features include generics, iterators, partial types, and the My classes (Visual Basic). Smart client and Web development features include ClickOnce, new controls, improved designers, and better data support, and a code reduction of up to 70% in ASP.NET. This statistic caught everyone’s attention.

Microsoft’s Jay Schmelzer stepped in at this point to demonstrate the construction of a smart client application, which leveraged many of these features. Using Beta 2 and, in under ten minutes, Jay put together a decent RSS (blog) reader. The coolest thing about Jay’s application, was its striking resemblance to the look and feel of Outlook 2003. Out of the box, Visual Studio 2005 provides many of Office’s look-and-feel controls, such as an advanced Toolstrip and Taskbar. Microsoft even updated their venerable list of graphics. Look for a folder named VisualStudio2005Images under \Common7 to see what I mean. Jay, being a Visual Basic guy, couldn’t help himself and had to show off VB’s code snippet and newly integrated refactoring support, thanks to Developer Express. As a finale, Jay right-clicked on his project and selected publish, which automatically generated the ClickOnce support – the ultimate delivery vehicle for smart clients.

At this point, the hundreds of VSLive! attendees were quite amazed and, if the feature presentation stopped right there, would be plenty for “the next version of Visual Studio”. Being driven by customer demand, however, means addressing the needs of many teams, small and large. Prashant went on to introduce the lineup of editions, including the many Express editions, meant for hobbyists and students. He summed it up best by saying that when an Express edition is given to a young student, he or she can quickly build cool applications and then “by accident they will learn how to program”.

The Express editions, however, have restrictions, such as not being able to access remote data sources, therefore professionals will want to the select standard or professional edition, depending on the applications they intend to build. The professional edition will support all code writing scenarios. It is equivalent in scope to the Visual Studio 2003 Enterprise Architect edition, but includes many new features as previously mentioned, as well as a nifty class designer interface.

The other end of the spectrum from Express is Team System. Team System is a suite of tools, delivered in separate editions of Visual Studio 2005, to support the entire software development lifecycle. Architects will have their own edition Visual Studio 2005 in which they will be able to use the Distributed System Designers, to model their applications and logical datacenters, as a way to “design for operations”, which is to increase the chance of a successful deployment later in the lifecycle. Developers will have an edition that includes many code quality and defect testing utilities, such dynamic and static code analyzers, performance profiling, unit testing, and code coverage. Testers can also unit test and determine code coverage. Further, they will be able to build and execute Web tests, load tests, and manual tests as well.

Team System’s success is contingent on having a strong ecosystem. This will include training, books, and new certifications. As proof of this, Microsoft Press will be handing out thousands of copies of Introducing Visual Studio 2005 Team System (beta) at Tech-Ed 2005 in Orlando and Microsoft Learning is just wrapping up development of Microsoft workshop #2631 Optimizing the Software Development Life Cycle with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System.

You could hear the pride in his voice as Prashant reiterated that Team System is going to be huge – not just as a software suite, but as a way to enable teams to write better software.

Update: Fawcette has published this here.