It’s been a massive week for Microsoft. We are really in full swing when it comes to the largest release cycle in Microsoft’s history.
It all began on Wednesday at 10 AM PST (Pacific) which is an appallingly wee-hours 3 AM AEST (Australian East). Insomnia had gripped me, so with a glance at the clock, I decided to stumble online. Just on the release time, my machine decided that it had to reboot owing to a security patch.
By the time the damned thing rebooted it was too late – MSDN/TechNet were being pummelled by eager subscribers all intent on downloading the RTM ISOs. I simply couldn’t get launch an Akamai download.
In the end I had to wait until yesterday afternoon, when the queue had died down. There is quite a lot to digest, including the dark horse, Team Foundation Server 2012. Word on the grapevine is that Windows Server 2012 will also go RTM shortly as well.
There are quite a number of considerations confronting the subscriber – platform (x86 or x64), locale (US or UK English?), license (Retail, VL, MSDN) and flavour (Win 8 or Win 8 Enterprise, Visual Studio Ultimate/Professional or Premium?). As one friend put it to me: “What’s the difference?”
For a good look at the differences, here are some helpful links:
Compare Editions of Visual Studio 2012
Noting that Windows 8 Enterprise has the features of Windows Pro but has extra support for large organizations.
There are also quite a few additional installation packages to compliment Visual Studio 2012 including the Test Agents (which I’ve mentioned in previous articles to do with establishing load testing), Intellitrace Collector, Remote Tools and the ever handy TFS Everywhere.
Once Windows Server 2012 joins the fray, we will have a very busy period indeed. Much to write about, so little time. You’ll also hear from me (with no undue level of verbosity) as I blog live from Microsoft Australia’s annual tech-fest, TechEd 2012 which is on the Gold Coast this year.
Enjoy the new releases and check back here for more, as I begin my long journey diving into the latest tech.
