Difference between 2002 and 2003

[sjn78]

This has probably been talked about before but I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

I have VB.Net Standard 2002 and considering getting 2003. Are there any significant changes between the two? From the online vidoes from Microsoft, the IDE looks a little different, but thats the least of my concern.

 

Might be able to get a brand new copy of VS Pro 2003 cheap soon, guy doesn't use windows and he is selling a copy given to him by a Microsoft rep. So I would rather get the this one over VB on its own.

[mutant]

The biggest difference between the two is the 2002 compiles against .NET 1.0 while 2003 does so using .NET 1.1. This alone give your programs more capabilities, and also the new version is more sucure and more bug free. As far as the language itself goes, you will find few nice things like being able to declare variables during loop initialization.

[sjn78]

Thats what I thought..about the framework anyway.

[Nerseus]

Also, I've found the new Visual Studio to be a bit less buggy when dealing with Windows Forms applications. I don't spend all that much time doing ASP.NET work except for webservices and they've worked just about as expected.

 

In VW 2002 I used to get fairly frequent crashes in VS (one a day or every other day when rebuilding large projects then opening WinForm designers). It also had a knack for just dropping out code in my InitializeComponent method. I got in the habit of always checking my changes before checking anything into SourceSafe.

 

The only "bad" bug I've seen in VS 2003 is a VS crash that occurs sometime after referenced assemblies are updated (they point to a network share). Occasionally, VS won't show intellisense anymore. That my clue to get out fast! If I don't and do something like open the Object Browser or go to Class View, VS will popup a console window and then disappear. At least I get the "warning" so I can save first :)

 

So, VS is a bit better.

 

The new framework has a LOT to offer - I'd check out MSDN website to get details to see if it's worth it. It's not without problems if you have a LARGE project. You might need to investigate some time to see how the upgrade will go. We had to spend a few days changing out code that did Xsl transformations since it became a "requirement" that you had trusted namespaces (or something like that - obvisouly *I* didn't have to do that upgrade :)).

 

There's also the perceived benefit to clients. I can't name a single professional project developed and compiled in VB4. I know quite a few in VB5 and a bunch in VB6. But VB4 was the first to introduce classes and... well, it had it's problems. When VB5 came out, our clients wanted VB5... NOT that a client should dictate what language or version you use, but if you only have one client and you "want" to upgrade anyway, it might make it a lot easier. Some clients work the other way and want to go with the "trusted" (older) product since they think it might be more stable.

 

Ideally, it would be "your" job to give them the most accurate information and make the decision from there. Do the benefits of upgrading outweight the downsides? How much time would you lose upgrading? What's the ROI if the cost is significant (might be small since you might get a "free" copy)?

 

Or, if you're a "cowboy", then just upgrade to Whidbey technical preview release and go for it!

 

-nerseus

[Cassio]

There's also some cool features if you program for mobile devices.

[Nerseus]

You want Mobile Devices? The *definitely* become a Cowboy and go with Whidbey. The coolest plugin "form" designer wizard I have EVER seen inside any version of Visual Studio.

 

If you like custom forms like Winamp's skins, then Whidbey Mobile development is for YOU!

 

-Nerseus

[sjn78]

Bit of a silly question, but where do you get Whidbey from? Is it available on CD or is it downloadable?

[mutant]

You can download if you have a MSDN subscription. I'm not sure which level.

BTW. as far as I know its officially called Visual Studio 2005 now :).

[sjn78]

Yeh, 2005 is plastered everywhere on microsoft. Guess I will be waiting a bit longer to check it out then. It looks good, but you can never really tell from screenshots and what microsoft say about it.

[sjn78]

What do you get in an Academic Version of VS? In Australia, the VS Pro is around $2000 where an academic version is available for $140.

 

Is it cut back or do you get the real deal version?

 

*Edit - I think they are pretty much the same, going by Microsofts sites. Anyone know if you are allowed to sell any programs you write with academic version? I would think that this isn't allowed.

Edited June 23, 2004 by sjn78

[Derek Stone]

After working with Visual Studio 2005 for a while now, I can comfortably say that Visual Studio 2002/2003 were essentially Notepad with a Windows Forms designer. Visual Studio 2005, on the other hand, is a true IDE. I'd list the feature set, but Google can do the same.

[Malfunction]

When will VSN2005 be released?