Mehran Nikoo's Notes

As we already know, apart from bug fixes, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 includes major product enhancements such as ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services and enhanced LINQ to SQL (which now supports the new date and FILESTREAM data types in SQL Server 2008). Clearly, this is not an exhaustive list so please refer to the release notes for more information on the new features. It is also good to know that: 

• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 introduces the concept of a client-only subset of the framework called “.NET Framework Client Profile”. The size of the runtime in the Client Profile is only 26.5MB so it is much smaller than the full framework. This allows solutions based on the client components such as WinForms, WPF and VSTO to be deployed much easier. Clearly, when you are developing your application, you need to make sure that you don’t use a feature that is not part of the Client Profile. When you install Visual Studio 2008 SP1, it adds a new property to the project settings in Visual Studio that will enforce the Client Profile policy. Enabling this option will prevent you from using the types in those assemblies that are not shipped as part of the Client Profile, which is exactly what you need.
• The setup package for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installs .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 first, which means you “technically” need to retest your existing .NET 2.0 and .NET 3.0 applications too.

More: Download Links, VS 2008 SP1 and NET 3.5 SP1 Dev Center

Microsoft will apply changes to its technology and business practices, which will cover high-volume business products including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Office 2007, Exchange Server 2007, Office SharePoint Server 2007 and all future versions of these products.

Here are some of the specific actions Microsoft is taking to implement these new interoperability principles: 

• Ensuring open connections to Microsoft’s high-volume products
• Documenting how Microsoft supports industry standards and extensions
•  Enhancing Office 2007 to provide greater flexibility of document formats
• Launching the Open Source Interoperability Initiative
• Expanding industry outreach and dialogue

You can find more about these initiatives here.

We had an announcement earlier this year about the combined launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008, which is scheduled for 27th Feb 2008. It is important to know that the launch date is not necessarily the same as the release date. The launch date is when the official promotion for the product is started and the global launch tours, training and readiness events are kicked off. As the name suggests, the release date is when the product is released to manufacturing (RTM).

Combined launch: Q1 2008 (27/02/2008)
Visual Studio 2008 release: expected in Q4 2007
Windows Server 2008 release: expected in Q1 2008
SQL Server 2008 release: later in 2008