Dynamic Helpįinding help has always been difficult. You can also create new projects right from this page.įigure 4: One of the most useful parts of the Start Page is the list of recently worked on projects. This page shows a list of the most recently worked on projects. The section of the Start Page you will probably use the most is the “Get Started” page ( Figure 4). I guess that's one of the reasons they call it “.NET”. Note that most of the features on the Start Page require you to be connected to the Internet. NET updates, Partner news, and other product information.

You can also get product-specific information on this page.įigure 3: The “What's New” page allows you to check for Visual Studio. NET updates and information provided by Visual Studio. It allows you to check for Visual Studio. The “What's New” page is very similar, but it is more product-specific and not as much knowledge-centered as the “Headlines” page (see Figure 3). The information that is displayed depends on the help filter specified (which in turn may be influenced by your Profile, unless you changed the help filter setting individually).įigure 2: News items for the Visual Studio Developer Profile. The “Headlines,” for instance, show you a collection of News, Articles and Online Columns that are of significance according to your profile ( Figure 2). The Start Page has a number of other important features. (I will discuss some of the more detailed and granular customization features later). In addition, you can switch the individual settings, such as the keyboard scheme, or the window layout, without changing the overall profile. For example, the IDE will immediately display the toolbox (which defaults to “auto-hide” in the “Visual Studio Developer” profile). This configures the editor to behave like the Visual Basic IDE. If you are a former Visual Basic 6 developer, you change the IDE to the “Visual Basic Developer” profile.

This defines a number of things, including the window layout, the keyboard scheme and the help filter.įigure 1: Profiles allow you to customize the IDE towards the needs of different language developers.

By default, the environment starts using the “Visual Studio Developer” profile. This page allows customizing the IDE towards your needs in a high-level manner. NET the first time, the environment displays the Start Page, showing its “My Profile” page ( Figure 1). However, many of the most powerful features are not obvious. This new IDE includes a number of new productivity enhancements. For the first time ever, Visual Studio has a language independent Integrated Developers Environment (IDE).

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