Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN (Includes Software Assurance)

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Edition is an integrated development environment (IDE) for teams that build applications that operate on Microsoft Windows, in Microsoft Office, or on Microsoft's web and mobile-device platforms.

Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate Edition includes all the debugging, diagnostics, and testing functionality of Microsoft Visual Studio Premium Edition, in addition to tools for lab management, architecture, and modeling.

Developers who use Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate Edition can choose to program in long-supported Microsoft programming languages such as Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++.NET, Visual C#.NET, Jscript, and dozens more or in several languages that are newly supported with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 such as Visual F#, IronRuby, and IronPython. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 also includes more integration with Microsoft SharePoint Server than previous versions, helping developers who need to customise a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 installation.

Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate Edition includes many Microsoft software development kits, utilities, class libraries, APIs, and data connections. It supports .NET Framework versions 2 through 4, Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Silverlight, ASP.NET, Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), and Language-Integrated Query (LINQ). Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 also includes Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Tools for the Microsoft Office Runtime, which targets Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010.

Other capabilities include the following:

• Database development tools for deployment and change-management help ensure databases and applications are in sync.
• Code analysis tools help developers avoid common coding errors before they get into production.
• Test impact analysis provides a list of recommended tests to run after a code change was made, enabling more accurate verification of code and reducing the number of tests needed.
• Lab Management automates build-deploy-test workflows to reduce development and testing costs associated with setup, tear down, and restoration of virtual environments to a known state.
• Architecture Explorer helps users visually explore code assets and their interdependencies, produce detailed models of how an application is constructed, and drill -down into specific areas.

Other Editions of Microsoft Visual Studio

See this table for a comparison of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 editions. For organisations that do not need the full functionality of Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft offers free, downloadable Express editions of Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, and Visual Web Developer.

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Subscription

This version of Microsoft Visual Studio includes a two-year subscription to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). MSDN provides access to Microsoft operating systems and software, development kits, and the MSDN Library. The subscription available with Ultimate Edition also includes access to titles like Microsoft Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere 2010, Microsoft Expression Studio Ultimate, and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 for production use, as well as access to Microsoft Office products, Microsoft Dynamics, and other servers for development and testing. Access is via the MSDN Subscriber Downloads site and through regular CD or DVD shipments. Technical support includes unlimited use of MSDN Managed Newsgroups with guaranteed response times of two business days, unlimited access to MSDN Online Concierge for nontechnical questions regarding use of the MSDN site, and four phone-based support incidents.

Acquiring MSDN

To activate the MSDN subscription, you must perform an additional step while retrieving your licence keys from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center website. To activate an MSDN subscription, click Subscriptions in the VLSC menu bar and follow the MSDN link to enter information about the subscribing user. When the process is complete, the user will receive an email with a subscriber ID and directions to the MSDN website.