Visual Studio “14” CTP 2 Available

Today we released CTP 2 of Visual Studio “14”, which is the codename for the next version of Visual Studio. To get started, you can download the bits (also available on MSDN subscriber downloads), or use the VM in Azure we’re making available (see the note below). In addition to the new features we added in CTP 1, this CTP also includes:

• Save and Apply Custom IDE Layouts. You can now save and apply custom layouts for tool windows in the IDE. The Save Window Layout and Apply Window Layout commands are under the Window Menu and you can also rename, reorder, and delete layouts from Manage Window Layouts.
• Light Bulb Editor Adornment. Light Bulbs are an extensible editor adornment to identify and help you fix issues in your code. To use them, place the caret on a line with an issue or hover over an issue and you’ll see a light bulb that lists actions you can take to resolve the problem and even a preview of proposed solutions.
• Editor Touch Support. The Visual Studio Editor now supports touch gestures for scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, tap-and-hold for context menus, double-tap for word selection, and line selection by tapping in the margin.
• VC++ Property Pages and Editor Enhancements. We updated the Configuration and Platform dropdown values for VC++ Property Page dialog to remember the last user selection when the dialog is closed. We also added Move Function Definition (move the body of a function definition to source or header/in-class definition) and Implement Pure Virtuals (quickly create definitions for a class that inherits constructs ([abstract] class, struct, etc.) containing pure virtuals). We also updated Create Declaration/Definition to include Code Peek and improved Find in Files to enable subsequent results to be appended to previous results ("append mode"). Checkout the VC Blog for details on these enhancements.
• ALL CAPS. Last week with the RC for Visual Studio 2013 Update 3 we added an option to sentence case menus; in this VS “14” CTP we changed Menu Bar styling to Title Case for everyone to help us get feedback on the change. We’ll use the feedback we get to help determine if we keep it as it is in this preview, make it an option under the Tools/Options menu, or take some other path.

You can find a complete list of new features in the Visual Studio “14” CTP knowledge base article.

Note: We intend this preview to be used for testing and feedback purposes. It’s not meant for production environments. Please install the CTP on a test environment, such as a clean VM or clean machine, and not on a primary-use machine.

We’re looking forward to your feedback on the CTP. As always, please post your suggestions on UserVoice and any bugs you find on our Connect site.

Thanks,

John