Future Directions

Visual Studio 2008 is the latest stop on the developer tool roadmap, but important updates in 2008 and beyond include an update to Silverlight that will make portions of the .NET Framework available on the Mac, new frameworks that further improve access to data in database management systems, and updates to Visual Studio Team System. (For an illustration of the upcoming roadmap, see “Visual Studio Roadmap“.)

Going Cross-Platform with Silverlight

First up after Visual Studio 2008 is an update to Silverlight—Microsoft’s platform for interactive Web applications.

A beta release of Silverlight 2.0 is expected in Q1 2008 and will incorporate a new cross-platform version of the .NET Framework based on the .NET Framework 3.5. Silverlight 2.0 will use the same core CLR as the desktop version, including the garbage collector (automatic memory manager) and Base Class Libraries, including network access. It will include portions of the higher-level class libraries, including data access via LINQ, and the 2D graphics, animation, and media integration framework of the Windows Presentation Foundation. It will also support a variety of audio and video formats, including Windows Media Video (WMV and VC-1), Windows Media Audio, MP3, and uncompressed audio (WAV).