Thushan Fernando Uncut

Finally after a long wait Microsoft have just RTM’d Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 weighing in at a hefty 851Mb (ISO). The update also includes fixes for .NET Framework 3.5, which brings some cool new features to the table.

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 delivers:

• Improved WPF designers
• SQL Server 2008 support
• ADO.NET Entity Designer
• Visual Basic and Visual C++ components and tools (including an MFC-based Office 2007 style ‘Ribbon’)
• Visual Studio Team System Team Foundation Server (TFS) addresses customer feedback on version control usability and performance, email integration with work item tracking and full support for hosting on SQL Server 2008
• Richer JavaScript support, enhanced AJAX and data tools, and Web site deployment improvements

The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 delivers:

• Performance increases between 20-45% for WPF-based applications – without having to change any code
• WCF improvements that give developers more control over the way they access data and services
• Streamlined installation experience for client applications
• Improvements in the area of data platform, such as the ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services and support for SQL Server 2008’s new features

This effectively means the previous workaround for those who couldnt wait for SQL Server 2008 installation is redundant now that you can download a copy the final release!!! Yay for us!

If your like me and got down and dirty with pre-releases you’ll have to use the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2008 Hotfix Cleanup Utility first followed by the VS2008 Preparation Tool and try the installation.

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As you may be aware, Microsoft RTM’d SQL Server 2008 a few days ago, unfortunately if you have the RTM version of Visual Studio 2008 (any edition) installed you’ll find that installing SQL Server 2008 you’ll get a nasty little surprise:

Rule “Previous releases of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008″ failed.

A previous release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 is installed on this computer. Upgrade Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 to the SP1 before installing SQL Server 2008.

This is all explained in the KB956139 - Visual Studio 2008 SP1 may be required for SQL Server 2008 installations, there is however a fix or a workaround to installing SQL Server without the need for SP1 if you aren’t able to obtain it.

Simply customise the installer so that these components aren’t installed:

• Management Tools
• Integration Services
• Business Intelligence Development Studio

Then things will chug along nicely:-)

You can download it on MSDN Subscriber Downloads or the TechNet Subscriber Downloads section. Dont forget to checkout What’s New in SQL Server 2008.

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