Visual Studio 2008 Development System
 Product Comparison

Visual Studio 2008

Professional Edition and Standard Edition Product Comparison

Product Similarities

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition and Standard Edition share the following features in the Integrated Development Environment (IDE):

  • Project system, including templates and multi-project solution support
  • Code editors
  • Windows Forms editor and designer
  • Web Forms editor and designer
  • Resource editors
  • CSS editor to create, apply, and manage styles and cascading style sheets
  • Web Page Designer, including split-pane HTML designer, markup validation, and Document Outline Window
  • XML editor (XML, XSL, and XSLT)
  • IntelliSense, including support for JavaScript
  • Code Snippets
  • Debugging (local and remote)
  • Language compilers (Visual Basic .NET, Visual C#, and Visual C++)
  • 64-bit compiler support (x64 only)
  • Multi-Targeting support (.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5)
  • ASP.NET AJAX support
  • Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) support, including a split-pane WPF designer, debugger support, and project template
  • Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) support, including Test Client and Auto-Hosting tools
  • Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) support, including designer
  • LINQ support, including Object Relational Designer, SQLMetal command-line tool, LINQ-aware code editors, and debugger support
  • Database design tools (local and remote)
  • Object and Relational Designer (local and remote)
  • Deployment tools (ClickOnce and MSI)
  • Automation to write, record, and run macros
  • IDE extensibility to create and use add-ins and packages
  • Version control integration support (MSSCCI-compatible)1
  • SQL Server Reporting Services support
  • Visual Studio Conversion Wizard for legacy projects

Product Differences

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition and Standard Edition differ as follows:

Feature

Standard Edition

Professional Edition

Build applications for the Microsoft Office system

No

Yes2

Build software for mobile devices

No

Yes

Software Assurance-Eligible

No

Yes3

User experience

Simplified menus and defaults

Full

Documentation

Online4

Online and Offline

Class Designer and Object Test Bench

No

Yes5

Crystal Reports

No

Yes

Server Explorer

No

Yes

Unit Testing

No

Yes6

Additional Tools Included

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition

 

Notes:

  1. Microsoft Visual SourceSafe available for purchase separately
  2. Does not include support for C++ projects
  3. Software Assurance provided through MSDN Subscription
  4. Offline documentation available as a separate download
  5. Limited support for native C++ code, intended to be used only for visualization and documentation
  6. Does not include Code Coverage; C++ support is limited

Visual Studio 2008 Trial Downloads

Download Visual Studio 2008 Trial Editions to evaluate what’s new in this release of Visual Studio.

Download Visual Studio Trials

Page view tracker