[All] VS.NET on Vista RTM

[RobDog888]

Just thought I would post a "update" on Vista and VS.NET IDE support. Seems it turns out that VS.NET 2002 and 2003 will not be supported on Vista. It is possible to install but Front Page Server Extensions are not installable on a new fresh installation of Vista, now an upgrade from XP to Vista may be another story as FPSE will be retained but not worth struggling with. Basically VS will install but without ASP.NET project development. Not being supported does not mean not installable, just there will be no SP's and minor "issues" that you will have to live with.

VS.NET 2005 will also have some issues. VS 2005 SP-1 will fix most of the issues but from what I understand, the "earliest" version of VS.NET which will truely work on Vista hasn't been officially released yet - current estimates are Feb 2007.

VS.NET 2005 SP-1 for Vista (Final Release):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

VS.NET on Vista:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa948853.aspx


Several questions can be answered from the Vista/VS.NET FAQ:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa948854


VS.NET 2003 on Vista Issues:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb188244.aspx



Btw, Vista installs with all 4 framework versions by default!
v1.0.3705
v1.1.4322
v2.0.50727
v3.0


All .NET app will run on Vista as usual but with third party controls you may have additional issues. There may be a need (depending on your app) to run an app as Administrator but its easy to do. Just right click on the exe and click "Run as Administrator". You can create a shortcut to the exe file configured to run as administrator so it will be no extra steps and prevent the possibility of a user forgetting to run as admin.


Here are a few good resource links for app design and troubleshooting in Vista that I have found on the MS site:

• Developer Best Practices and Guidelines for Applications in a Least Privileged Environment

• File and Registry Virtualization

• Application Verifier Tool / LUA Predictor Tool and Shim (for unmanaged code)

[shakti5385]

It’s really great you always search the new detail and post on the form, this all thing is very helpful for the people.
This is really good for helping people regularly

[RobDog888]

Updated the first post to include the SP-1 for VS 2005 on Vista RTM versions.

Just published on 3.6.2007 finally!!!

[michaelrawi]

Unfortunately, the final relase of VS 2005 SP1 for Vista didn't repair double click solution problem. I still can't open VS enviroment when double clik a solution icon. I wonder was it caused by UAC or VS itself.

[RobDog888]

Hmm, it may be your system as it opens for me when I double click and I havent even added the SP-1 Vista Update final release.

[kleinma]

Originally Posted by michaelrawi

Unfortunately, the final relase of VS 2005 SP1 for Vista didn't repair double click solution problem. I still can't open VS enviroment when double clik a solution icon. I wonder was it caused by UAC or VS itself.

Double clicking a .sln file won't work correctly because it won't launch the IDE with elevated admin rights that it needs..

Your should have a shortcut to Visual Studio .NET 2005 and right click on that, select run as administrator, and then open your sln file from there.

[RobDog888]

Doh! Thats correct, I forgot I already did that. I edited all my shortcuts, quick launch, menu items for VS.NET so they will run with admin permissions as one of the first things I did when I installed .NET

[kleinma]

supposedly, you can run apps elevated using the shortcut keys

CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER

however I don't know if this works for file types (like sln), or just exes/shortcuts.

I have vista on a testbox here, but I still do all my dev on XP for the moment.

Here is a list of handy vista shortcut keys from the shell team
http://shellrevealed.com/blogs/shell...Shortcuts.aspx

[RobDog888]

I cant test it out without having to reboot as I have modified my profile with the UAC. In order to change the setting back it requires a reboot. I'll check out changing the setting back later or unless someone else posts first.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering how to turn off the "User Account Control"...

Control Panel > User Accounts > and un-check "Use User Account Control to help protect your computer" > click OK > Reboot as required.

[kleinma]

yeah soooooo many people complain about UAC when you can simply turn it off if it really annoys you that much.

I leave it on for testing purposes, and eventually more and more apps will be written to conform to it, and it will be less of an issue because apps simply wont try to access areas that are locked down by UAC (like program files, writing to HKLM registry, etc..)

[RobDog888]

Well I have created a secondary user account with limited permissions and the UAC is on. So any testing for the UAC and security is done uder that profile.

Ps, that MAC commercial with "PC" vs. "MAC" is stupid and innacurate.

[michaelrawi]

Originally Posted by kleinma

Double clicking a .sln file won't work correctly because it won't launch the IDE with elevated admin rights that it needs..

Your should have a shortcut to Visual Studio .NET 2005 and right click on that, select run as administrator, and then open your sln file from there.

Thanks. I'll try that.

[jmcilhinney]

Originally Posted by RobDog888

that MAC commercial with "PC" vs. "MAC" is stupid and innacurate.

Sounds like pretty much all advertising.

[RobDog888]

I updated the first post with some good links for developing apps on Vista.

[kleinma]

Rob,

I have an app that by default installs to program files (which I am thinking of changing) but as of right now it does.

Everything runs fine under vista, as I don't do anything with my app outside the boundries of the folder it sits in (and the temp directory).

However when my app downloads an update for itself, and tries to launch the exe that is responsible for applying the update, that "update.exe" get a UAC prompt before continuing. So anyway, my point is, I went to download that "application verifier" that you have a link to, and noticed it says

Application Verifier can be used with any unmanaged application or program

So I guess anything in .NET is off limits for this tool. You might want to at least make a note of that in your post.

[RobDog888]

If you need shared data in the program files folder then you need to move it to a shared directory like C:\Users\Public and create a subfolder.

First post updated for app verifier tool. Thanks.

[kleinma]

Yeah, its just that its not as easy as changing things around because this app is already in production. It needs to be tested under vista to make sure everything works correctly. I hope to make the change sometime in the next month though.

[RobDog888]

The File and Registry Virtualization sections of the latest links I posted will come in handy to determine how and where to place data on the file system/registry.

[kleinma]

yeah I already have seen it in action on my Vista tests. Its automatic, so it doesn't require me to do anything special. Infact the whole point of it being automatic is so the pre-vista program will not know anything is different and function correctly.

As a general rule, I try to stay away from the registry unless I totally need to be in there. I prefer application/user level xml config files personally. Makes things much neater to work with.

[michaelrawi]

Last week I re-installed my Vista and when I re-installed my VS2005, I realize that .sln files is associated with Visual Studio Version Selector, not VS2005 IDE itself. That's explain why double clicking an .sln file doesn't work by default.

Now, I'm been wondering, where or what is this VS Version selector? Is it an application or just VS IDE command? Where is it located? Can anyone pointed this out ?

[michaelrawi]

I did a little search on the net, and find this articles. I'll try this one later.

[jmcilhinney]

Originally Posted by michaelrawi

Last week I re-installed my Vista and when I re-installed my VS2005, I realize that .sln files is associated with Visual Studio Version Selector, not VS2005 IDE itself. That's explain why double clicking an .sln file doesn't work by default.

Now, I'm been wondering, where or what is this VS Version selector? Is it an application or just VS IDE command? Where is it located? Can anyone pointed this out ?

The version selector is what allows you to open different SLN files in different versions of VS. If you have VS.NET 2003 and VS 2005 installed on the same system, the version selector will ensure that solutions created in 2003 will open in 2003 and solutions created in 2005 will open in 2005. It also distinguishes between solutions created in a full version of VS and one created in an Express edition. Basically, any solution will open by default in the IDE that created it.

[shyguyjeff]

Thanks RobDog888 for a very helpful post, it really helps me... God Bless you Rob and to your family..