Do I need to use VS 2010 for all new app development

[szlamany]

Is VS 2010 just IDE features - or do I need to use it to target more recent framework versions?

Starting a big project and want to make sure I'm aware of what VS 2010 offers over VS 2008.

[weirddemon]

Is VS 2010 just IDE features - or do I need to use it to target more recent framework versions?

Starting a big project and want to make sure I'm aware of what VS 2010 offers over VS 2008.

I like the VS 2010 IDE much better than VS 2008, but it is more graphic intensive than VS 2008.

However, feature wise, VS 2008 any version of the framework from 2.0 to 3.5 SP1. Unless you specifically need the 4.0 framework, then you shouldn't worry about it.

[jmcilhinney]

As suggested by weirddemon, you don't need to use VS 2010 unless you are targeting .NET 4.0. That said, I also much prefer the new IDE so I'd suggest moving up to it by default unless you have a specific reason not to. One reason might be that, even if you target .NET 3.5 or lower, you still can't share your projects with someone else using VS 2008 by default. It's possible to do with a bit of fiddling but you'd have to upgrade and retrograde the project every time.

Finally, I'd suggest targeting .NET 4.0 by default unless you have a specific reason not to. .NET 4.0 adds various new features that you may find useful, even if not right away. One obvious example is the System.Threading.Tasks namespace, which provides a simple way to implement parallel processing for loops and the like. VB 2010 is also improved, and language improvements are available no matter the .NET version you're targeting, e.g. you can use multi-line lambdas and action lambdas in VB 2010 even if you're targeting .NET 3.5, because they are a language feature rather than a Framework feature.