The next Visual Studio, codename “Orcas”, ready as CTP
The next version of Microsoft Visual Studio codename "Orcas" is ready as a CTP (Community Technology Preview). Orcas is the next generation development tool for Windows Vista, the 2007 Office System, and the Web.
This CTP release includes LINQ to Objects API, partial C# 3.0 Language Support and partial IDE support for e.g. colorization of C# 3.0. It also features tighter integration with Visual Studio Team System (VSTS), both for load and unit testing and for device development. You can read the rest of the features at the download page.
The CTP is distributed as a Virtual PC image so you can use it without impacting your existing software installations. Of course you need Virtual PC to get it up and running. But it's nice to try the CTP in this way so you don't get your existing software installation messed up! We all know how difficult it was to uninstall all the different parts of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 in the correct order so that you later could install and run the final version of Visual Studio, SQL Server etc.
