Product Notes

Windows Vista

The final version of Windows Vista is now available to MSDN Subscribers (Operating System level or higher) soon. Visit MSDN Subscriptions to download Windows Vista as soon as it's available. (Read information on purchasing an MSDN Subscription.)

Visual Studio 2005

Download the Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite 180-Day Trial. For other versions, including the express download, visit the Visual Studio 2005 Express home page.

.NET Framework 3.0

With the exception of Windows Vista (which by default includes the .NET Framework 3.0), all operating systems require you to install the .NET Framework 3.0 in order to run and develop managed applications. Some sample tools included in the Windows SDK also require you to install the .NET Framework 3.0.

Windows Longhorn Server

The .NET Framework 3.0 Runtime components ship with Longhorn Server, but are only installed if you choose the AppServer role. Windows Longhorn Server does not include the .NET Framework 3.0 by default.

Visual Studio 2005 Extensions

Download Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WF and Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WCF, WPF to install the Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, and Windows Presentation Foundation project templates into Visual Studio. Using these extensions requires Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition. These packages were previously known as the "Orcas Tools for .NET 3.0 (formerly WinFX) CTP." Note: Extensions for WCF, WPF are not supported and are distributed as a community technology preview.

Windows SDK

The Windows SDK contains documents, samples, APIs, and tools for both managed and native programming. Download the SDK for Windows Vista C++ headers and APIs.

Previous Release Compatibility

Use the following table to determine compatibilty with pre-release versions of Windows Vista and the .NET Framework 3.0.