New Visual Basic Editions

The More Things Change ...

As predictable as the leaves that will start to fall across the northern hemisphere (and that grass will start to get greener in the southern half), Microsoft has announced that they will reconfigure and rename some of their products again. New to the lineup this time are the "2005 Express" Editions. Microsoft describes them as, "an expansion of the Visual Studio product line to include lightweight, easy to use, and easy to learn tools for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and students.

That means that there are features left out of them, but they cost less.

And, right now, you can get 'em either free (download) or for the cost of shipping! (about ten bucks). Did I mention that currently, these are "beta 1" versions? Microsoft is careful to tell us that ...

Beta software is not supported.
You're not licensed to deploy applications you create.
They can change before the final release.

Of particular interest to us here at About Visual Basic are "Visual Basic 2005 Express", "Visual Web Developer 2005 Express" and "SQL Server Express". The last two are important to even us "pure" VB programmers because they are complementary technologies for development.

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express

If you remember a Microsoft product called Visual Interdev from earlier times ... Visual Web Developer is targeted at the same type of development. It will work hand-in-glove with Visual Basic to build ASP.NET 2.0 applications. Microsoft states that it includes, "everything you need to begin building Web applications, including fully functional Starter Kit applications and a built-in development/test Web server." That last part about a "built-in Web server" is pretty significant! Microsoft seems to have taken a page from history again. If you remember NT 4.0 and the Personal Web Server (PWS) ... it's like that. And it means that you don't have to have the full Microsoft IIS Web Server installed to test out your application again. A long overdue improvement! (Or should I say, "Microsoft finally got us back to where we were in 1995!")

SQL Server Express

This is the latest version of what used to be called MSDE (Microsoft Data Engine). For a brief time, the Mad Marketers of Microsoft Corp (M3C) were calling it the "Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine". Perhaps this new name will stick for more than a month or so. There is more "in the box" with this new database including a new database management tool. But the best news is that MSDE was free and (M3C was probably resisting GREAT temptation) SQL Server Express will be too! Whew!!

And, of course, there is the Queen Bee ...

Visual Basic 2005 Express

Did you notice that this isn't named Visual Basic 2005 Express .NET??? It is .NET, of course. But the fact that Microsoft is just using the name "Visual Basic" without bothering to say "6" or ".NET" is the clearest signal yet from Microsoft.

In their current issue, Software Development Times estimates that two thirds of all development planned for the next year will be .NET based. The VB 6 level of technology is estimated at 16 to 20 percent. It's all over except the crying for VB 6. Hey! I loved it too! But there comes a time ...

One of the reasons people like VB 6 is that it's easy to learn and use. And ... welllll ... let's face it ... by comparison VB.NET isn't. Microsoft has been taking a lot of heat on this and my guess is that this is their response. In their announcement, they have this to say about these "Express" editions: "Our aim is to keep the products at 50 MB or smaller, making them easy to download and install. Beyond that, probably the single biggest feature is simplicity. Beginning hobbyists, enthusiasts, and students may be overwhelmed by today's tools. The Express products will give them a very streamlined user experience, helping them focus on enjoying programming."

So we have ...

* The very latest thing
* Cheap! (downloadable for free or about ten bucks for the CD)
* Easier to use

What are you waiting for?