4 reasons to switch to Visual Studio 2008 (formerly known as Visual Studio code name “Orcas”)

Microsoft aims to release Visual Studio 2008 by the end of this year. Currently there is a beta 1 and a second beta release is expected later this summer. There is a couple of improvements in the new version of the most popular software development platform that could probably make you switch from an older version.

Multi-Targeting Support

Visual Studio 2008 will now support targeting multiple versions of the .NET Framework. That means you can open an existing project or create a new one and select the .NET Framework version to work with. No matter which version you choose you will be able to take advantage of the new features Visual Studio provides.

LINQ Support

Language INtegrated Query (LINQ) extends C# and VB with native language syntax for queries and provides class libraries to take advantage of these capabilities. It is a set of APIs that allows you to write SQL-like queries. LINQ is available only when .NET Framework 3.5 is used.

JavaScript intellisense and debugging

Built-in support for JavaScript intellisense and debugging (improved). One of the coolest things is that VS 2008 allows you to set client-side breakpoints directly within your source files.

Richer WYSIWYG Designer

VS 2008 will now support nested ASP.NET master pages at design-time. Master page support was one of the most popular features shipped with ASP.NET 2.0. But the drawback with VS 2005 was that nested master pages couldn't be edited with the WYSIWYG designer.

Split View support – source and design views available at the same time.

Rich CSS Support – CSS property window, CSS inheritance viewer, CSS preview, and CSS manager. This allows the designers/developers to easily create, manage and refactor CSS rules.