VS 2005 Renews Pitch for Developers

Visual Studio 2005 (VS 2005) promises improvements for the core development cycle-editing, compiling, and debugging code-across all of Microsoft’s programming languages. As the next major update of Microsoft’s integrated development environment (IDE), its improvements address limitations in the previous two versions that either hindered developers from making the jump to .NET or reduced the productivity of those who did. While Visual Studio is expanding beyond core development, the success of Microsoft’s .NET technology depends on the IDE’s appeal to Microsoft’s current developer base.

Developer Segmentation

Microsoft’s Developer Division has long sought a single IDE for all of its tools. After several false starts, the company finally achieved its aim with the introduction of Visual Studio .NET (VS.NET) in 2002.

Building a single IDE provides Microsoft with numerous benefits, including engineering efficiencies and a single platform that third parties can build on. However, the value to Microsoft’s customers is less clear. Many development organizations include Visual Basic (VB), C++, and even C# developers, but it is rare for a developer to move back and forth between languages. Therefore, the fact that all of Microsoft’s programming languages (with the exception of FoxPro) share a common IDE is less important to customers than having an IDE that is tuned for the needs of each individual.