Windows Phone 7 is the most thoroughly tested mobile platform Microsoft has ever released.  We had nearly ten thousand devices running automated tests daily, over a half million hours of active self-hosting use, over three and a half million hours of stress test passes, and eight and a half million hours of fully automated test passes.  We’ve had thousands of independent software vendors and early adopters testing our software and giving us great feedback. We are ready.

When we reached the Technical Preview milestone, we received some great feedback since then which we’ve been able to respond to and improve the smart design throughout the OS. For example, folks loved the Facebook integration in the People Hub, but they also wanted ways to filter their contacts so only the Facebook friends they really know will show up in their contact list  – we’ve added support for that.  We’ve also made it easy to “like” a post right from the People Hub, or quickly post a message to someone’s Facebook wall directly.

We reached today’s milestone because of the tremendous efforts of the entire team including our partners, early adopters, and independent software developers providing feedback.  We want to send a huge THANK YOU to this extended team– we couldn’t have done it without you!

SQL Azure Synchronization

With Sync Framework 2.1, you can leverage the Windows Azure Platform to extend the reach of your data to anyone that has an internet connection, without making a significant investment in the infrastructure that is typically required. Specifically, Sync Framework 2.1 lets you extend your existing on premises SQL Server database to the cloud and removes the need for customers and business partners to connect directly to your corporate network. After you configure your SQL Azure database for synchronization, users can take the data offline and store it in a client database, such as SQL Server Compact or SQL Server Express, so that your applications operate while disconnected and your customers can stay productive without the need for a reliable network connection. Changes made to data in the field can be synchronized back to the SQL Azure database and ultimately back to the on premises SQL Server database. Sync Framework 2.1 also includes features to interact well with the shared environment of Windows Azure and SQL Azure. These features include performance enhancements, the ability to define the maximum size of a transaction to avoid throttling, and automatic retries of a transaction if it is throttled by Windows Azure. All of this is accomplished by using the same classes you use to synchronize a SQL Server database, such as SqlSyncProvider and SqlSyncScopeProvisioning, so you can use your existing knowledge of Sync Framework to easily synchronize with SQL Azure.

Bulk Application of Changes

Sync Framework 2.1 takes advantage of the table-valued parameter feature of SQL Server 2008 and SQL Azure to apply multiple inserts, updates, and deletes by using a single stored procedure call, instead of requiring a stored procedure call to apply each change. This greatly increases performance of these operations and reduces the number of round trips between client and server during change application. Bulk procedures are created by default when a SQL Server 2008 or SQL Azure database is provisioned.

Parameter-based Filtering

Sync Framework 2.1 enables you to create parameter-based filters that control what data is synchronized. Parameter-based filters are particularly useful when users want to filter data based on a field that can have many different values, such as user ID or region, or a combination of two or more fields. Parameter-based filters are created in two steps. First, filter and scope templates are defined. Then, a filtered scope is created that has specific values for the filter parameters. This two-step process has the following advantages:

• Easy to set up. A filter template is defined one time. Creating a filter template is the only action that requires permission to create stored procedures in the database server. This step is typically performed by a database administrator.
• Easy to subscribe. Clients specify parameter values to create and subscribe to filtered scopes on an as-needed basis. This step requires only permission to insert rows in synchronization tables in the database server. This step can be performed by a user.
• Easy to maintain. Even when several parameters are combined and lots of filtered scopes are created, maintenance is simple because a single, parameter-based procedure is used to enumerate changes.

Removing Scopes and Templates

Sync Framework 2.1 adds the SqlSyncScopeDeprovisioning and SqlCeSyncScopeDeprovisioning classes to enable you to easily remove synchronization elements from databases that have been provisioned for synchronization. By using these classes you can remove scopes, filter templates, and the associated metadata tables, triggers, and stored procedures from your databases.

SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 Compatibility

The Sync Framework 2.1 SqlCeSyncProvider database provider object uses SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2. Existing SQL Server Compact databases are automatically upgraded when Sync Framework connects to them. Among other new features, SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 makes available a change tracking API that provides the ability to configure, enable, and disable change tracking on a table, and to access the change tracking data for the table. SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2 can be downloaded here.

For more information about Sync Framework 2.1, including feature comparisons, walkthroughs, how-to documents, and API reference, see the product documentation.

Stay in sync and Download Sync Framework 2.1 today and find out what synchronization can do for you!

-Rob

Resco MobileLight Toolkit is a set of Microsoft Silverlight controls designed for Windows Phone 7. The controls‘ architecture is based on the Resco MobileForms Toolkit controls but adjusted to the Microsoft Silverlight technology.

“Since Microsoft announced the new Windows Phone 7 we have experienced a dramatic increase of demand for Windows Phone 7 controls,” said Radomir Vozar, Resco Developer Tools & Enterprise Division Director. “We have a clear goal to develop a product built on a successful tradition of Resco MobileForms Toolkit with account to the new possibilities and trends of the Windows Phone 7 and Microsoft Silverlight.”

The first version of the Resco MobileLight Toolkit—scheduled for September 28, 2010—will include two most frequently used controls: Resco AdvancedList and Resco DetailView. After the release, Resco will continually add new controls, such as Calendar, Grid, etc. The controls’ UI will meet the Windows Phone 7 Series UI Design & Interaction Guide in order to fulfill the Windows Phone 7 graphics and usage standards.

The Resco MobileLight Toolkit will be marketed as a stand-alone product as well as part of Resco MobileApp Studio. The license includes a 1-year subscription, which ensures access to the new control releases, updates, fixes and support.

If you’re developing for Windows Phone 7, and I know you are, you might want to take a look.

-Rob

Our favorite mobile database, SQL Server Compact 4.0 finds it’s way to the web with this tool providing a simple way to give your mobile web site a database.  It’s been beefed up and tuned for the stress of providing data services to Internet and supports 256 concurrent connections.  Since it’s a file-based database, you just copy it along with your web pages to your on-premise server, web hosting provider or Azure.

Last but not least, you get IIS Express which is a welcome replacement for the Cassini development web server currently used by Visual Studio.  This gives all developers the power of IIS 7.x without needing Administrator access to their box, even if they’re running on Windows XP.

The lightweight, inline-code nature of developing with WebMatrix makes it easy to build low-bandwidth sites that follow XHTML Basic 1.1 recommendations so you can target any mobile web browser.  From there, it’s up to you to determine if you want to support more advanced features found in mobile browsers like IE Mobile, Opera, or Webkit (iPhone, Android, webOS or Blackberry).

- Rob

If you happened to catch my session titled “Developing Occasionally Connected Applications for Windows Phone 7” at Tech Ed North America 2010 in New Orleans, then you probably have a good idea where I’m going with this.  My goal is to walk you through the WCF REST services that return JSON-serialized objects to your Windows Phone 7 app.  Next, I’m going to show you how to consume those REST services with the WebClient object and store that data in an in-memory object cache.  From there, you’ll query the object cache using LINQ and databind your results to UI elements.  Last but not least, I’ll show you how to serialize your objects to Isolated Storage so your app can keep working even when you’re not connected.  Let’s check out the video from Tech Ed so you’ll see what I’m talking about:

If you like what you saw in the video then stick around for this series of blog posts where I’ll show you the code you need to build large-scale solutions with Windows Phone 7.

-Rob

Videos and labs for the new training kit include:

Use this kit to learn how to use Microsoft Visual 2010 Express for Windows Phone and Expression Blend to build Silverlight apps and XNA games for Windows Phone.

-Rob

The term “Beta” is understood to mean that things are close to being finished.  Well, that’s what we mean anyway. This Beta release represents the near final version of the tools for building applications and games for Windows Phone 7. 

Since the initial CTP release of the tools just this March, the Windows Phone Developer Tool CTP has been widely embraced by the community, and they have shown what’s possible on our new development platform.

It’s time to get serious about building the actual apps and games for Windows Phone 7 that consumers will be looking for starting this holiday season.

One of the things I really want to do is just take a step back and congratulate the entire Windows Phone 7 team.  They have done an amazing job of delivering code month after month on our path to releasing later this year.  Check out this timeline:

• Feb 2010 – Windows Phone 7 was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
• Mar 2010 – The application platform was unveiled at MIX 10 in Las Vegas.  With that, we had the first CTP of the Windows Phone Developer Tools.
• Apr 2010 – The tools received an updated, and the CTP Refresh shipped.
• Jun 2010 – Windows Phone Marketplace details unveiled at TechEd 2010.  Get the Windows Phone 7 Application Certification Requirements.
• July 2010 – Beta release of Windows Phone Developer Tools, and the preview developer phones start shipping to ISVs

Whew! The Windows Phone engineering team has been crushing it.

Here’s a link to the release notes for the beta, but I wanted to talk about a few top level items:

• Microsoft Expression Blend for Windows Phone – Blend is now integrated completely into the Windows Phone Developer Tools Beta.
• Developer Registration Utility – Now you can unlock you Windows Phone 7 device for development purposes.
• XAP Deployment Tool – if you want to deploy XAP files directly to an unlocked device, now you can.
• The Windows Phone 7 API – we’re getting close to completion.  Many namespaces that were previously distributed over several different DLLs have now been consolidated into one.  In addition, there have been realignments and changes in several other namespaces as well.  Push Notifications, Accelerometer and App Bar APIs have all been updated.
• Additional Controls – There are some additional controls coming in the next few weeks (i.e. Panorama and Pivot) which didn’t make the beta release.  They are coming soon.
• Control Templates – Silverlight for Windows Phone control templates have been updated to match evolutions in the overall OS.

Get Trained – Windows Phone 7 Jump Start

Windows Phone 7 JumpStart is a FREE virtual live class for developers interested in developing applications and games for Windows Phone 7.  We’re providing this in partnership with our MS Learning team. The course is organized into four virtual instructor-led sessions that are of 3-hour duration.  They will be presented by forthcoming MS Press authors and MVP’s, Andy Wigley and Rob Miles. It will provide developers a jump start for developing Windows Phone 7 applications.  The Labs will be completed offline with office hours access to the instructors.

The dates for these course sessions are:

• July 20 – 8am: Session One: Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Phone and Silverlight
• July 20 – 1pm: Session Two: Programming Game Applications with XNA
• July 22 – 8am: Session Three:  Programming Applications with Silverlight
• July 22 – 1pm: Session Four:  Review and Wrap Up

Go register for the course now!

Devices for Developers

We made a promise last month that we would be getting pre-production preview devices to developers this month. We are keeping that promise. In fact, the very first preview devices were awarded last week to a pair of pretty amazing high-school students who won the Windows Phone “Rockstar” contest as part of the Imagine Cup. When we saw what they had done, we knew we had to get them preview phones.

Starting next Monday (July 19th), we start shipping the devices more broadly. Sadly, we will not be able to meet all of that demand.  We are planning to set up deploy and test labs in major cities to make it a little easier for everyone who wants to have access to a preview phone to have it. More on that soon.

Lastly, to get your name in the queue, assuming you haven’t already sent in an email, you can now send an email to wp7req@microsoft.com.  A field representative will get back to you as soon as possible. Again, these are preview phones, so they are limited in quantity. When you send email, please include the following information:

• Your name
• Company name, if applicable
• What city/state/country you are located in
• App(s) you plan on developing (category and brief description)

Twitter

At some point, we had to mention Twitter, right? We strongly encourage developers establish a connection with their local field evangelist, since they will be the ones ultimately putting phones into the hands of developers, but they can also point you in the right direction for solving problems, get you connected to other partners, and generally help out. To make it easier to get to know your local evangelist, we’ve set up this list – wp7dev/champs (http://twitter.com/wp7dev/champs).

You can also follow other members of the team based on their area of coverage:

• @ckindel – WP7 Dev Platform
• @ai – Mobile Social Media
• @brandonwatson – Marketplace & Platform
• @cschormann – Silverlight & Blend (UPDATED: Fixed incorrect spelling/link)
• @mklucher – Gaming & XNA
• @ozymandias – Gaming
• @shawnhargreaves – Game Design

Go start developing!

-Rob

OEM Market Share

For the 3 month average period ending in May, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 22.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up one percentage point from the preceding three month period. LG ranked second with 21.5 percent share, followed by Motorola (21.2 percent share), RIM (8.7 percent share, up 0.5 percentage point) and Nokia (8.1 percent share).

Smartphone Platform Market Share

49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 8.1 percent from the corresponding February period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 41.7 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 percent share and Microsoft with 13.2 percent. Google saw significant growth during the period, up 4.0 percentage points to capture 13.0 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.8 percent. Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.

*May data does not include the impact of Apple’s launch of iPhone 4, which
became available in June.

Mobile Content Usage

65.2 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device in May, up 1.4 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 31.9 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 30.0 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous period. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs also saw significant growth, increasing 2.6 percentage points to 20.8 percent of mobile subscribers.

- Rob

SQL Server Compact 4.0 will provide an easy and simple to use database storage for starter websites, and the features of Compact that wooed the mobile devices and desktop developers will now be available to the ASP.NET web application developers. In addition, the features and enhancements in SQL Server Compact 4.0 like the new Transact-SQL syntax for OFFSET & FETCH, higher reliability, seamless migration of schema and data to the higher SKUs of SQL Server, support for code-first & server generated keys in ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.0, and the ability to use Visual Studio 2010 to develop ASP.NET web applications for Compact 4.0 etc. will also excite the existing development community.

The first Community Technology Preview (CTP1) release of SQL Server Compact 4.0 is integrated with the WebMatrix Beta, which is a free ASP.NET web application development tool for Windows, and provides development & database support, and can easily publish/deploy websites to the web hosting providers. SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 plays an important role in WebMatrix Beta, and enables WebMatrix Beta to be a small download, with a simple development experience, and contributes to the seamless end-to-end experiences from development through to publish. Scott Guthrie’s (ScottGu) blog has detailed information about the WebMatrix Beta and its different components. WebMatrix Beta can be installed in one-click through the Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Web PI) 3 Beta. In addition to the Web PI 3 Beta, SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 is also available for download from the Microsoft download center.

1.    Specialty of SQL Server Compact:

SQL Server Compact has many specialties that are well liked by the developer community. The specialties of Compact, among others, are as listed below:

• Small Size: Easy to download with a small size of 2 to 2.5 MB and installs fast with no configuration needed.
• Program with .NET Framework APIs: Simple to use because of the familiar .NET Framework APIs, including ADO.NET and ADO.NET Entity Framework, and similar programming patterns.
• Supports Transact-SQL Syntax: Supports a rich subset of the Transact-SQL syntax supported by higher SKUs of SQL Server.
• Private (xcopy) Deployable: Xcopy deployable within the application folders and no admin privileges are needed. The database file contains no code and is safe to deploy along with the database. 
• In-process Database: Loads in the application’s process memory space and requires no inter-process communication.
• Integrated with Visual Studio: Applications can be rapidly developed using the integrated development experience in Visual Studio.
• Easy Migration to SQL Server: Smooth on-ramp to SQL Server when the applications requirements grow and there is a need to handle large amounts of data and high concurrent loads due to multiple users.
• Free Product with Free Tools: Compact is a free product, and is integrated with the free Express versions of Visual Studio and WebMatrix Beta, and requires low investment to start building and deploying applications.
• Simple Solutions for Syncing data with SQL Server: Schema and data can be synced easily with SQL Server using inbuilt and programmable technologies like Sync Framework (Sync FX) and merge replication.

2.    New Features in SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1

The first CTP release of SQL Server Compact 4.0 has a lot of features that will be useful to all of the development community of Compact, including the latest entrants, the ASP.NET developers. The different features of SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 categorized separately are as described below:

2.1  Fundamentals

The set of features in this category are improvements that made Compact better, more reliable and secure. More details about the features are given below:

1. Higher Reliability – SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 has been tested and certified to work with ASP.NET web applications and can handle the load of starter websites. Compact 4.0 CTP1 performs without any exceptions or access violations in scenarios where there are a number of concurrent connections and multiple requests are being made to the database.
2. Encryption Algorithm Update – Compact 4.0 CTP1 supports the SHA 2 encryption algorithms that provide a higher level of security for the encrypted Compact database files and are also needed for the FIPS compliance. The algorithms that were supported in the earlier versions of Compact are only supported in Compact 4.0 CTP1 for opening the database file to upgrade them to Compact 4.0 CTP1. Due to this, when Compact 4.0 CTP1 opens a Compact 3.5 database file, the Compact 3.5 database file will need to be upgraded to Compact 4.0 CTP1 using the System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeEngine.Upgrade() API.
3. Setup Enhancements – SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 setup and installation has been enhanced to ensure that the x86 and x64 components of SQL Server Compact install properly on a 64-bit machine. This is done to ensure that Compact 4.0 CTP1 supports both the WOW64 mode and the 64-bit native applications on the 64-bit machine without any problems, in both the conditions i.e. when Compact is deployed centrally using the exe installer or when it is privately deployed within the application folders. �
   1. In Compact 4.0 CTP1, the x86 exe will install on a 32-bit machine and the x64 MSI will install on a 64-bit machine only. The x64 MSI will install both the 32-bit and 64-bit Compact components on the 64-bit machine and due to this the x86 MSI is no longer needed to be installed on the 64-bit machine.
   2. If one wants to do a private deployment of Compact 4.0 CTP1, all the assemblies (both 32-bit and 64-bit) for the private deployment will be available in the %Program Files%\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v4.0\Private and in the %Program Files (x86)%\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v4.0\Private folder.

2.2  Improvements for ASP.NET Web Applications

1. Support for ASP.NET – Compact 4.0 CTP1 supports ASP.NET without the need for any specific configuration. The flag SQLServerCompactEditionUnderWebHosting is not required in Compact 4.0 CTP1 and has been removed.
2. Virtual Memory Reduction – The virtual memory that Compact uses has been reduced in Compact 4.0 CTP1. The visible difference is that if an application tries to open 40 to 50 simultaneous connections in SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP2, an ‘out of virtual memory’ exception will be hit. With Compact 4.0 CTP1, the application can easily open as many connections as needed to the database file up to the full extent of 256 connections without running out of virtual memory.
3. Medium Trust – Compact 4.0 CTP1 assemblies have been attributed with Allow Partially Trusted Caller’s Attribute (APTCA) and Compact 4.0 CTP1 can run in medium trust.

2.3  Develop Compact 4.0 CTP1 Applications with WebMatrix Beta and Visual Studio 2010

1. Seamless Migration of Data and Schema from Compact 4.0 CTP1 into SQL Server – The WebMatrix Beta can be used to script data and schema from Compact 4.0 CTP1 into the higher versions of SQL Server. The WebMatrix Beta can be also used to script data and schema from Compact 4.0 CTP1 to SQL Azure. The script to SQL Azure is in an early (alpha) stage for this first CTP release.
2. Designer Support in WebMatrix Beta – The WebMatrix Beta can be used to develop ASP.NET web applications with Compact 4.0 CTP1 and to manage the Compact database including running T-SQL queries against Compact.
3.  Designer Support in Visual Studio 2010 – An update to Visual Studio 2010 is also being worked upon that will provide support for using Compact 4.0 in Visual Studio 2010. Compact 4.0 will be also supported in Visual Studio 2010 Web Developer Express.

2.4  New Transact-SQL Syntax

1. Support for Paging Queries – Compact 4.0 CTP1 supports the T-SQL syntax for OFFSET & FETCH, and due to this paging queries can be run against the database file. A few sample T-SQL queries for OFFSET & FETCH that can be run against the sample Northwind.sdf database file are given below:

• The query below skips the first 10 rows and fetches all the other rows in the Employees table ordered by the Hire Date:

      SELECT * FROM Employees ORDER BY [Hire Date] OFFSET 10 ROWS;

• The first query below skips the first 10 rows and fetches the next 10 rows in the Customers table and the rows are ordered by the Customer ID. The second query skips the first 2 rows and fetches the next one row in the Orders table ordered by the Shipped Date. This query a variation of the first query:

      SELECT * FROM Customers ORDER BY [Customer ID] OFFSET 10 ROWS FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY;

      SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY [Shipped Date] OFFSET 2 ROWS FETCH NEXT 1 ROW ONLY;

2.5  API Enhancements

1. Seamless Integration with ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.0 (.NET FX 4) – Compact 4.0 CTP1 will support the code-first programming model of ADO.NET Entity Framework. In addition, the columns that have server generated keys like identity, rowguid etc. will be also supported in Compact 4.0 when used with ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.0 (this is the version of ADO.NET Entity Framework that released with .NET FX 4). The ADO.NET Entity Framework is working on a separate release and that will provide the code-first and server generated keys support for Compact.
   1. The Compact 4.0 CTP1 release only works with ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.0 that released with .NET FX 4. Using Compact 4.0 CTP1 with ADO.NET Entity Framework 3.5 SP1 that released with .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 will result in an error.

1. New API for GetSchema: Compact has a new API – System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeConnection.GetSchema() – that can be used to get the schema from a Compact database file. The API is also used to provide the support for System.Data.Common.DbConnection.GetSchema. In the example below the GetSchema API is used to get the names of all the tables, columns, indexes, indexed columns and foreign keys from the sample Northwind.sdf database.

SqlCeConnection conn = new SqlCeConnection("DataSource=Northwind.sdf");

       try

            {

                conn.Open();

                DataTable dt = conn.GetSchema();

                dt = conn.GetSchema("Tables");

                dt = conn.GetSchema("Columns");

                dt = conn.GetSchema("Indexes");

                dt = conn.GetSchema("IndexColumns");

                dt = conn.GetSchema("ForeignKeys");

            }

            catch (Exception e)

            {

                //Fail

            }

1. New API for SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder: Compact is has new API – System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder() – that let developers programmatically create correct connection string for Compact 4.0, and to parse & rebuild existing connection strings. The API is also used to provide the support for System.Data.Common.DbConnectionStringBuilder. In the example below the SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder performs checks for valid key/value pairs and creates a valid SQL Server Compact connection string.

       System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder builder =

            new System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder();

       builder["Data Source"] = "Northwind.sdf";

       builder["Mode”] = "Exclusive";

       Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);

The result is the following connection string:

Data Source=Northwind.sdf;Mode=Exclusive

3.    Known Issues in SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1:

The known issues in this CTP release of Compact 4.0 are listed below:

1. Compact 4.0 CTP1 needs Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries (x86, IA64 and x64), Service Pack 1: The native DLLs of SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 need the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries (x86, IA64 and x64), Service Pack 1. Installing the SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 using the Windows Installer (.exe) file, also installs the Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries SP1. If SQL Server Compact 4.0 CTP1 is deployed privately in the application’s folder the following have to be present on the machine for SQL Server Compact to function properly:
   1. Installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 also installs the Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries SP1.
   2. Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries SP1 can be downloaded and installed from the location given below: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=194827

Note that installing .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0 or 4 does not install the Visual C++ 2008 Runtime Libraries SP1.

1. Uninstallation and repair of Compact 4.0 CTP1 from the command line does not work: Uninstallation of Compact runtime using command line options does not work in this CTP release. For uninstallation of SQL Server Compact runtime go to Add/remove programs (Start->Run->appwiz.cpl), and right click on the entry ‘Microsoft SQL Server Compact 4.0 ENU CTP1’ or ‘Microsoft SQL Server Compact 4.0 x64 ENU CTP1’ , and select uninstall from the menu.
2. Compact 4.0 development support in Visual Studio 2010: An update to the Visual Studio 2010 is being worked upon that will add the support for Compact 4.0. The update will also provide for the development support for Compact 4.0 in the Visual Studio 2010 Web Developer Express.
3. Code first programming model support for Compact 4.0 in ADO.NET Entity Framework: The Microsoft ADO.NET Entity Framework Feature Community Technology Preview 3 is an early preview of the code-first programming model for the ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.0. The code-first feature in the ADO.NET Entity Framework CTP3 release does not work properly with Compact 4.0. Future releases of code-first programming model for ADO.NET Entity Framework will provide support for code-first programming model for Compact 4.0.

Now go have fun with my favorite database!

-Rob