Microsoft has just released Visual Studio 2008 SDK 1.1 which allows developers to create extensions for VS 2008 SP1. As a result, Visual Studio Shell redistributable packages are now much smaller.
According to Microsoft:
The Visual Studio 2008 Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.1 includes tools, documentation, and samples for developers to design, build, test and deploy extensions for Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1. You can also use the Visual Studio 2008 SDK 1.1 to create custom tools environments based on the Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 Shell.
The Visual Studio Extensibility (VSX) Team details some of the features included with SDK 1.1:
- Significant size reduction for Visual Studio Shell redistributable packages. The Visual Studio Shell Isolated and Visual Studio Shell Integrated redistributable are now approximately 150 megabytes smaller. The redistributable no longer carry the full .NET Framework 3.5 payload. However, they contain a bootstrapper that automatically downloads the .NET Framework 3.5 runtime if it is not installed on the target computer.
- Support for progress feedback in a chained installation. The Visual Studio Shell Isolated and Visual Studio Shell Integrated redistributable can now pass installation progress back to the chaining process. This lets developers display accurate progress in their setup programs.
- Visual Studio Shell development now supports normal user. Developing and deploying a Visual Studio Shell application no longer requires the developer to be an administrator on a Windows XP computer or to have elevated privileges on a Windows Vista computer.
- DSL Print Preview. The ability to preview a DSL before printing has been added to the DSL designer.
- New XML Tree Editor sample. The SQL Server team has provided a new XML Tree Editor sample. The earlier sample has been removed.
- New TFS Samples. Two new TFS samples have been added.
- VSExtensibilitySample. This new TFS sample provides an example of creating a Visual Studio add-in that interacts with the Version Control user interface of Team Explorer. The sample comes with a detailed Word doc that provides insight into the requirements of such an add-in.
- RichClientCustomControl. This new TFS sample provides an example of creating Work Item Tracking custom controls that work within Team Explorer. The sample comes with a detailed Word doc that provides insight into the requirements of custom controls as well as a separate document that describes how to write custom controls that can be used within the Team Server Web Access environment .
- Updated Shell documentation. Documentation about the Shell has been added.
VS 2008 SDK 1.1 requires VS Standard Edition or above and SP1. SDK 1.1 will not work for VS Express Editions. More information about VS 2008 SDK 1.1 is available on MSDN or VSX Development Center.