Microsoft sets out roadmap for Visual Studio

By Alun Williams

Posted on 30 Jul 2003 at 13:10

Redmond has documented its roadmap for developer tools in a white paper you can find on MSDN.

Essentially, a version of Visual Studio codenamed 'Whidbey' is due to appear in 2004. Changes to the .NET Framework class libraries should support more powerful Windows Forms-based client development, improved ADO.NET data access and more support for device-based development.

This version will provide 'deep support' for the version of SQL Server codenamed 'Yukon' (a radical overhaul of how Microsoft manages data relationships across Windows). Specifically, developers will be able to write stored procedures - sections of code that get triggered by particular data operations - using Visual Basic or C#.

One of the enhancements flagged for the 'Whidbey' C++ compiler is Profile Guided Optimisations (POGO), which should enable Visual C++ to optimise code based on an application's real-world usage patterns.

Further down the line, in 2005, is the 'Orcas' Visual Studio, which will provide tools support for the next-generation 'Longhorn' Windows OS. Orcas will support the managed interfaces, new application model and integrated data storage features of Longhorn.

Note that there is a more imminent release of Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System. This will appear along alongside the next version of Microsoft Office, which is due to appear in a few months. As is usual, more integration is promised between Microsoft products, and Visual Studio .NET 2003 developers should be able to use the new tools to speed the building of Office-based applications.

Microsoft has also announced it will be revamping its Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) programme - (see Visual Studio.NET for the enterprise). It is promising independent software vendors (ISVs) 'access to a wider variety of opportunities in the .NET ecosystem'.