Tools

Visual Studio 2010 SP1 is now ready to be downloaded! MSDN subscribers can download it with their account, while others will have to wait until Thursday, March 10 to get it.

Happy updating!

Update: Here is the download link

If you ever develop applications for Windows Phone using location services, there is a GPS emulator that allows you to simulate movement and thus test your application without going outside with your phone.

Other “recipes” for Windows Phone.

The Orchard project recently released version 1.0 of their product. I had talked about it previously here, and I decided to install it again.

Installation

The installation is done via the Web Platform Installer and I also used Web Matrix on a virtual machine to do my tests. The installation is almost automatic and very pleasant. No need for obscure configuration.

Once installed, you just need to start the Orchard site with the Web Matrix interface to see the initial site configuration page (Site name, admin user, password, database). Again, it is very simple and intuitive.

BlogEngine.Net has just released version 2.0 of their engine, the same one that runs this site. You can see all the new features here.

I have already done the update, it took about 30 minutes including the backup, and it was a piece of cake!

If you want to show off your VS2010 love, then the VS2010WallPapers (not affiliated with Microsoft) site is perfect for you. It allow you to select from dozens of concepts!

While reading the MSDN article on converting VBA applications to C# 4.0, I remembered the famous ALT+[Selection] function that allows you to insert the same text/code on multiple lines at once. So, here is the English version of that part of the article:

Press ALT and select where you want to insert your code (selection in light blue in the image below):

Type your code and boom! All the selected lines have been filled with your code:

I just came across an article from Tech Radar offering 48 free applications from Microsoft that are often little known. Such as Expression Encoder and Windows Steady State!

The tools for developing for Windows Phone 7 are now available in the final version. You can download them here. For more information, read Scott’s excellent article.

The WPF team recently released a new Ribbon completely in WPF (no wrapper around native code). So you can play with your XAML to give it the look and contextual menus you want!

Download the Ribbon

See Pete Brown’s article
WPF Team Blog: Introducing the Microsoft Ribbon for WPF

I previously talked to you about LightSwitch, now you can download the Beta 1 version.

Go ahead, have fun!