Current state of Visual Studio releases [January 2015]

Hi my blog readers!

Begin with this date, I will post Visual Studio updates every 2 months: January, March, May, July, and so the next 2 months.

The update from me will always be released on every 19th or 20th bimonthly.

On 19th January 2015, these are the updates of Visual Studio (from the latest in January 2015 goes back to December 2014):

• Visual Studio 2015 CTP 5
• Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 CTP 1

Overview of the updates

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Visual Studio 2015 CTP 5

This is the 5th CTP release of Visual Studio 2015. Reference:

The updates on this release are new features and bug fixes. These are the new features:

1. XAML Language Service
2. Timeline tool (for WPF and Windows Store 8.1 application)
3. Diagnostic tool
4. ASP.NET

There are bug fixes (for bugs reported in earlier version of Visual Studio 2015 CTP/Preview): http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2967191

For more information about VS 2015 CTP 5, visit this page: http://www.visualstudio.com/news/vs2015-vs

Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 CTP 1

Yes, there will be another update for Visual Studio 2013! Personally, I thought Visual Studio 2013 Update 4 was the last update and I was wrong.

Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 CTP 1 brings only two updates:

1. Technological improvements on debugging for DirectX 9 PS 3 depth support (DirectX 9.0c) on Windows Phones
2. Bug fix on notification hubs

For #2, the bug (and also the fix) is described as:

FIX: You cannot dismiss developer license notifications in Visual Studio 2013 Update 4

Let me elaborate more on this bug. This bug is available since Visual Studio 2013 Update 4. After you successfully install Visual Studio 2013 Update 4 (either standalone update or as included installation of fresh installation of Visual Studio), a notification about acquiring developer license would always appear, even after you dismiss it and open another project.

For full explanation about this bug, here is the original MS KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3018885

For more information about Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 CTP 1, visit this MS KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3021976

See you again in two months