Major Changes for VS 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0 from Beta 2 to RTM

An article describing the major changes for both Visual Studio 2005 and ASP.NET 2005 has been published on MSDN.

WinFS Beta Released

Microsoft has released a beta version of WinFS, the file system originally slated to be part of Windows Vista, to MSDN subscribers.

This beta release works on Windows XP and requires the .NET Framework version 2.0

InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2

The InfoPath 2003 Toolkit for Visual Studio .NET 2003 has been updated for Visual Studio 2005 and is included as a separate install in Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005 Beta 2. It will automatically upgrade Visual Studio .NET 2003 projects so you can leverage your existing work.

GTD Outlook Add-In

NetCentrics has just released version 2.1 of their GTD Outlook add-in.
New in this release:

• Attach multiple Emails to a single task
• Process a Post Item
• Add Next Action Button on Appointment/Task that will complete and create new task
• Send and Delegate available on New, Forward or Reply messages
• Dependant Action Creation
• File Enhancements including view more/less options
• Sub Project Functionality
• Send and File Option available on New, Forward or Reply messages
• Request for Actions in Journaling
• Calendar View while deferring an item
• File a message based on a project – allowing for views to be created
• Use Word as Email editor when using GTDOA
• User can sort file for reference, delegate to, file drop lists by MRU or ABC
• Ability to change GTD folder from default of their inbox to another folder
• Send Options now available on a Forward, Reply and New message

Acrylic CTP Release 2

Microsoft has released a new CTP (Community Technology Preview) edition of Acrylic, the forthcoming graphics application based on Expressions. Acrylic is a hybrid vector/raster graphics application that the company appears to be positioning as an ideal developer tool for creating Vista interface objects as well as web and presentation graphics. This new preview edition offers better integration with PowerPoint.

Oracle 10g Developers’ Edition

Oracle have released a Developers’ Edition of the Oracle 10g Release 2 for Windows.

Maps, maps and more maps

Scott Hanselman has an interesting post on the various map services currently available.

Competition for Skype

Looks like Google are turning to the VoIP market with the introduction of Google Talk. Google Talk appears to be a combined IM/Voice offering.

If this takes off, Skype are going to have a serious competitor to deal with. Skype currently boasts 51 million users so it will be interesting to see how fast Google Talk takes off.

Of course, Microsoft pre-announced a similar product called Microsoft Office Communicator earlier this year, but this has not yet made its debut.

Google Desktop updated

Google have just released a new version of their Desktop Search product.

Microsoft releases new CTP version of Acrylic

Microsoft has released a new CTP (Community Technology Preview) edition of Acrylic, the forthcoming graphics application based on Expressions. Acrylic is a hybrid vector/raster graphics application that the company appears to be positioning as an ideal developer tool for creating Vista interface objects as well as web and presentation graphics. This new preview edition offers better integration with PowerPoint.

Here’s the description from the download page:

“Acrylic” (code name) is the professional design program that brings together the richness of pixel-based painting and the performance of editable vector graphics for a more fluid and flexible creative workflow. Create sophisticated designs and graphic elements for your on-screen, Web, and print projects.