Visual Studio 2008 Silverlight 1.1 Tools Ship!- No Love for Visual Studio Express 2008

by Don Burnett

Well just when you thought it might be safe to uninstall that beta 2 of Visual Studio. Microsoft has shipped Visual Studio 2008, including Standard, Pro, and Express editions.  Microsoft also has shipped Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008..

 

It gives you the following functionality..

VB and C# project templates for Silverlight 1.1 development

Website item templates for Silverlight 1.0 development with javascript

XAML markup editing with colorization and intellisense

Intellisense against XAML elements in VB and C# code-behind files

Consumption of Silverlight 1.1 components inside Web Application and Website projects

Ability to create Web Services references in a VB and C# Silverlight component

Project compatibility with Expression Blend to enable developers and designers to collaborate on Silverlight projects

There is one caveat to this whole scenario though, if you are a beginning programmer and are using the Express Editions of Visual Studio 2008, then Microsoft is leaving you out in the cold for Silverlight development (well not quite! But close).. They have decided that the lowest version of Visual Studio that you can install Silverlight tools on to get some experience with doing Silverlight on is Visual Studio Standard edition. That means the Visual Studio Express SKU (visual web developer) doesn't include Silverlight projects in general.

I can't help but think personally that this is a huge mistake, when looking at the bigger picture of Silverlight adoption. Considering that you can do WPF projects on Visual C# Express, why they decided to leave Silverlight support out of the Express editions (Such as Visual Web Developer) is beyond me.. The ASP.NET futures controls for Silverlight, such as the Media Element and XAML controls should be there across the board.. Is there monetization issues behind leaving support for this out?

Bottom line, it's going to hurt adoption of Silverlight on a grand scale.. This also means I am going to have to do a whole series of articles on developing for Silverlight with Express, which you can still do, using the SDK instructions, it just isn't as easy or obvious as it will be with other versions of Visual Studio.

I am honestly left thinking why? Is Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot. They could have a whole generation of new .NET programmers turned onto Silverlight who probably won't make the investment in Visual Studio right away who want to get started with Silverlight. Why not make it easy for them? The professional programmers really don't need the tools (yes I can add my own Silverlight project in minutes to Visual Studio) like the extra controls etc. It's just a nicety for pro's who already know how to code without it, but beginners need those projects and extra controls in the toolbox. The fact is the first time most people see or use Visual Studio it's not with their MSDN subscription, it's with these Express versions.  With the huge interest in Silverlight by many people including a lot of new to development people, it would make sense that Microsoft support Silverlight in Express.

When are they going to get this together and do some right brain thinking on this subject. Making the cost of getting into Silverlight development really low would be a SMART thing for Microsoft to do..

Someone whoever is in charge of this really isn't thinking this through. If you think I am right, you should help me start a write-in campaign to get Silverlight supported in all versions of Visual Studio including Express. It's just inexcusable that it's not there really..

 

Technorati tags: Visual Studio 2008, Silverlight Tools, Lights on No One is Home, No Visual Studio Express Support