On the 27th February Microsoft released both Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008 into the world, a community technology preview (CTP) version of SQL Server 2008 will also be made available now with the full release to manafucturing (RTM) to happen in the 3rd quarter of the year.

But what will this mean in the development world, should this all be welcomed with open arms or should it be carefully assessed to see whether it suits your needs. Certainly, by looking at the new features and improvements, there seems to be a geniune attempt to increase the amount that a developer is capable of whilst using the software and improving the workflow.

Unlike previous updates of Visual Studio there is a degree of backward compatibility within the .NET 2.0 framework and above for the new version so upgrading from VS2005 should be a lot less problematic than it has been in the past. Of course Microsoft have put a full list of the new features up on their MSDN website so that people can have a read up on these to see whether they suit the needs of developers and their clients.

Windows Server 2008 has a new features list that is too long to be covered on here, so it would be advisable to check the full list on the Microsoft site. With the aim of once again increasing the efficiency of servers doing their job and bringing in new tools such as IIS 7.0 and server manager and with improved security to protect the server ensures solid ground on which to construct your online business.

With the full release of SQL Server 2008 not being available until later in the year the community is currently assessing the functionality of the new platform and it’s new features, especially regarding digital media formats including pictures, video and audio.

From the information available Microsoft are offering products that are more geared towards the way the web is being used today with it’s focus on multimedia integration and help when it comes to programming more interactively it certainly seems to be a brighter future for the development world.