HYDERABAD: Software major Microsoft is all geared to ship its product Visual Studio 2005 during late summer. The company has earlier released the beta version last summer and is gearing up to release the second beta version in a month or two.

On his recent visit to India, Microsoft developer division corporate VP S Somasegar, said, "We shipped the beta last summer, we are going to ship another beta in the next month or so and we hope to be able to ship the product after summer sometime this year."

Detailing about the product features, he said, "We realized years ago that Visual Basic is the best strategy to target professional developers, students, or someone who wants to develop applications just as a hobby. Though everybody is a developer at the end of the day we really feel they are different kinds of developers."

One of the key design goals of Visual Studio 2005 was to offer a family of products with the right set of features that enable the right kind of user experience targeted at the right developer segment. "We have got them all for all kinds of developers. There's something called Express products targeted at the beginner programmer or for the one who is developing applications as a hobby. Next we have something called Standard product or Standard edition, which is targeted at the developer who is trying to make the switch from olden days platform to .Net platform. Further up, we have got the Professional edition that is targeted at the professional developer."

"Not just this, we have a new addition to the family called Visual Studio Team System, which is targeted at team developers. Here we have a set of tools that are specifically targeted at designers, tools for developers, tools for testers, etc., all integrated together to enable a smooth workflow," he added.

Basically built with three design goals-easy to download and install, easy to learn and understand, and easy to get started, all eyes are set on Visual Studio 2005. He also said that the feedback received from customers on the beta shipped last year was very positive. And that it signifies the demand for the product.

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