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Mr_FulanoFlag for United States of America

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VB 2005 upgrade to VB 2008.

Hi, I currently use VB 2005 WinForms, because I have the entire Virtual Studio 2005 Standard Edition v8.0.5 suite. Since I primarily use VB.NET, I was thinking of upgrading to VB 2008 Express Edition, which is free. However, before I do that I have a couple of questions:

*** Note: Please keep in mind I only use VB.NET in WinForms mode.

1). Will I have to do anything to my current "in development" applications to be able to continue to work on them in VB 2008?

2). Is there any functionality (in VB.NET only) that I'm going to have to give up if I do upgrade from VB 2005 (Virtual Studio Standard Edition v8.0.5) to VB 2008 Express Edition?

3). Has anyone experienced any negative issues they believe to be caused by VB 2008?

4). Is there anything I need to take into account in considering this upgrade?

5). Will I notice any significant or obvious change once I upgrade and if so, what should I expect... both positive and negative?

Thanks for the advice,
Fulano
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Mike Tomlinson
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You can install them both and run them "side-by-side":
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms246609.aspx

Once a project is upgraded to 2008 though I don't think you can go backwards...so be sure to keep a backup copy for 2005!
Here you can compare Standard Edition versus Express Edition
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zcbsd3cz(VS.80).aspx
Although both are related to 2008, comparison is fairly simlar to VS 2005 Standard.

Almost all functionality is present in Express Editions, biggest limitations are in the development facilities, not in source code and .net library.
Exception: You cannot develop .net compact framework applications (windows mobile)
Other relevant: Reporting services, Install/setup projects, visual class editor, etc.
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Hi Idle Mind, thanks for the suggestion. I currently have VS 2003 and VS 2005 installed side-by-side and have never seen any issues. I like to keep the older version on hand just in case I need to revert back for whatever reason. However, that's not what I'm trying to do. -- I'd like to get some advice on the questions I posted above, which are really my main concerns in terms of should I move ahead with the rest of the industry and use 2008, or should I leave well enough alone and continue with something that has work well thus far (i.e. 2005)?

I see that VB 2010 is now in Beta and I'd hate to get left too many version behind. Have you seen any type of side-by-side comparison illustrating what the differences exist between 2005, 2008 and maybe even 2010 at least in terms of VB.NET?

Thanks,
Fulano
Hi Jaime, thanks for the link. I think that the biggest problem I'm seeing already is this:

Develop Visual Studio Packages with the Visual Studio SDK
Express Edition   -- No
Standard Edition -- Yes

I need to be able to deploy my apps, so I need the SDK.  It seems that -IF- I do upgrade to 2008, it would have to be at least the Standard Edition which is $199 for the upgrade version.

I still need to figure out how much of a benefit that would even be... as of yet, I really don't see much -- maybe I'm missing something... :|

Thanks,
Fulano
I am not sure if you are aware of Visual Studio Integration Packages (VSPackages). It is totally different than an installer.
If you just want to deploy your application through an installer, you use ClickOnce feature in VS Express.
Hi Jaime, could you elaborate a little more about what you use "Visual Studio Integration Packages" for?

Thanks,
Fulano
Here is the official definition of VSPackages: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb165754(VS.80).aspx
but if you don't know the meaning yet, I suspect you are just refering to installers, not to packages.
In that case, VS Express has a versatile deployment feature (ClickOnce): http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/142dbbz4.aspx
OK, I see No...I don't need to extend VS. Its OK for me the way it is. I do however need to deploy my application to other computers and need an installation (setup) application, like the one in VS 2005.
ClickOnce feature generates a simple installer for you, deployed from CD, website or network folder, with option to auto update and install also main components like .net framework and sql server Express.
If this is enough, then you don't need to build a full setup project, so you can use VS Express
OK thanks...want to try your hand at some of my questions in my original post?
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Jaime Olivares
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