Microsoft Quietly Launches Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4 Betas On MSDN

Microsoft Corp. on Monday has dropped the second beta iterations of its Visual Studio 2010 as well as .Net Framework 4 suites in MSDN for its subscribers.

The codes of the beta versions of both the products, including Visual Studio 2010 and .Net Framework 4, will be made public on October 21, with the official launch of the two is planned for 22 March 2010, the software maker said.

Both the software suites have been touted as “the most significant release” the software giant had of the frameworks and tool suites in many years.

Newly added features to Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 include Windows7 and SharePoint 2010 tools, the addition of the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) for programming with different scripting languages, and drag-and-drop options with Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight.

In addition, the software maker has also added what it is referring to as “Ultimate Offer”, which involves all active Premium subscribers of MSDN to have access to a higher-level version of Visual Studio 2010 suite at the product’s launch in March next year.

Microsoft will offer more details on the new products at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, which is scheduled to be running through November 17 to 19.