8 ms·

The key points seem to be: "Available Wednesday, Visual Studio Community 2013 is a free, fully featured edition of Visual Studio including full extensibility."

The key points seem to be: "Available Wednesday, Visual Studio Community 2013 is a free, fully featured edition of Visual Studio including full extensibility." So, it sounds like this will replace the Express edition and let you install extensions like you can in the Pro version. "Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 2015: build for any device - Built from the ground up with support for iOS, Android and Windows, Visual Studio 2015 Preview makes it easier for developers to build applications and services for any device, on any platform." It almost sounds like you're going to be able to run VS2015 on different platforms, but I doubt it. Maybe you'll run the web version of VS2015 to develop from Mac/Linux? "To further support cross-platform mobile development with .NET, as part of their strategic partnership, Microsoft and Xamarin announced a new streamlined experience for installing Xamarin from Visual Studio, as well as announced the addition of Visual Studio support to its free offering Xamarin Starter Edition — available later in the year. " This is very interesting - .NET is going fully cross platform but they haven't bought Xamarin...are they planning on competing while keeping their frenemies close or something else?

weavie 12y ago
The iOS and Android part don't make sense to me. Surely you won't be running VS on your iPad? So are they saying it has support for compiling to iOS and Android? Wouldn't they need to mention Xamarin in that sentence for it to make sense?
- wernercd 12y ago
  I doubt the idea (at this point) is to "RUN" Visual Studio on iPad/Android... My money is on the App Creation naively in VS 2015 - via Xamarin or similar plugins - instead of having to rely on tools like Eclipse or IdeaU. I think I'd lose my mind if I could develop apps in Visual Studio and C# instead of having to use Java and pay $1000/year for Xamarin.
  - weavie 12y ago
    It would destroy Xamarin if they made it free to develop C# for iOS/Android.
    - moonchrome 12y ago
      Highly depends on what the deal between Xamarin and MS is. For example they could work out a deal with Xamarin where they would provide free access under same terms as Visual Studio community (the >5 people) and Microsoft could pay them more than enough to cover their loss while promoting their development stack.
      - Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
        Doesn't Xamarin have a load of other stuff around testing and the like? It could just mean a move away from Xamarin as a core development tool into producing things which support development on these platforms.
        moonchrome 12y ago
        I highly doubt Microsoft will release and support Linux/OSX/iOS/Android API bindings. What will likely happen is Microsoft will : * open source the core libs * open source the JIT * make sure it works on all platforms * open source the ASP.NET and port it to Linux/Mac so they can separate Azure from being a Windows only cloud service Xamarin then packages these in to Mono and Xamarin.iOS/Android providing a layer on top of MS core stuff. Microsoft will then be able to sell .NET as a truly cross-platform solution and make VS/Azure more popular where it's probably losing to other OSS ATM.
        Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
        I agree re Linux and OSX but I could see iOS and Android. The scale of mobile is such that if you want to be relevant in the way MS have historically, they're two platforms you can't ignore.
- zo1 12y ago
  I think it's just an oddly-worded sentence. They're saying that you can use VS to target multiple platforms (including IOS). They're absolutely not saying you'll be able to run Visual Studio on an IPad.
Danieru 12y ago
One theory I've read is Microsoft wants Xamarin to stay third-party so Microsoft's competitors continue working with them. Xamarin is working with a great many companies who would think twice about working with Microsoft directly. This way Microsoft can shove money to Xamarin to forward the ecosystem without scaring anyone.
- wernercd 12y ago
  Nice theory... but they went the opposite direction with Nokia. I don't think they'd have any issue purchasing Xamarin and importing/re-branding.
  - coldtea 12y ago
    Nokia is a totally different case, so doesn't invalidate his theory. Nokia sells to consumers, so there wasn't the problem (as his theory suggests) of corporate clients not wanting to have business with MS. Not saying that his theory is correct, just that it's different case to Nokia.
    - Finster 12y ago
      Nokia was also definitely pre-Nadella. The Xamarin theory supports Nadella's whole "cloud and mobile services" schtick.
  - theoutlander 12y ago
    AFAIK, Nokia didn't want to be affiliated with MS...not the other way around.
- btown 12y ago
  Not only that, but Xamarin's independent existence is like free insurance for companies choosing .NET - even if Microsoft were to drop support (unlikely, but look at Silverlight), Xamarin would continue providing a viable way forward for the language and runtime. Now that MS's .NET is open source, Xamarin's .NET is like OpenJDK - Xamarin is a governing body and authority for the language/API if Microsoft were to drop it. So it's good for Microsoft to have Xamarin as an independent entity.
wanda 12y ago
http://blog.xamarin.com/microsoft-and-xamarin-expand-global-partnership/ http://blog.xamarin.com/microsoft-and-xamarin-expand-global-... "Today we’re excited to take the partnership to the next level, by announcing: 1. Support for Visual Studio 2015 – Today, we released support for the Visual Studio 2015 Preview release, which includes Xamarin templates that make it easier to discover and download Xamarin from within the IDE. 2. Free Xamarin Starter Edition for Visual Studio Users – Today, Microsoft announced a new, free edition to Visual Studio—Visual Studio Community. Visual Studio Community contains support for extensions, which means it will be Xamarin compatible with from day one. We want to help make Visual Studio Community a tool for anyone to create native apps for iOS and Android, so we are announcing our plans to enable our freely available Xamarin Starter Edition to work with Visual Studio Community. We are also doubling the size limit on apps that can be created with Xamarin Starter Edition, so that you can build even more capable apps for free. This will be available in the coming weeks. 3. Special offers for MSDN Subscribers – We’ve worked with Microsoft to create a 20% discount for Visual Studio Premium and Ultimate MSDN subscribers to purchase Xamarin Business or Enterprise Editions, or world-class mobile development training with Xamarin University, available up to 60 days after the Visual Studio Purchase."
- squeaky-clean 12y ago
  So the free Xamarin users will get Visual Studio support, but us with Xamarin Indie still have to use Xamarin Studio? I just want to use VS with Xamarin! But I guess that won't happen, because that's the only worthwhile reason to purchase their Business subscription (and the whole >5 employees clause).
  - mb_72 12y ago
    Yes ... I'm in the same boat, however the 'core' of my app I developed as a PCL, the substantial part of developing for which I spend time in VS and using Resharper. Xamarin Studio is pretty OK, but VS is damn good to develop with.
nathas 12y ago
I believe they mean you write code in VS and target Android/iOS/etc for builds. It sounds like it's moving more towards a regular IDE than very .NET specific. It does not sound like you can run VS on different devices.

weavie 12y ago

The iOS and Android part don't make sense to me. Surely you won't be running VS on your iPad? So are they saying it has support for compiling to iOS and Android? Wouldn't they need to mention Xamarin in that sentence for it to make sense?

wernercd 12y ago
I doubt the idea (at this point) is to "RUN" Visual Studio on iPad/Android... My money is on the App Creation naively in VS 2015 - via Xamarin or similar plugins - instead of having to rely on tools like Eclipse or IdeaU. I think I'd lose my mind if I could develop apps in Visual Studio and C# instead of having to use Java and pay $1000/year for Xamarin.
- weavie 12y ago
  It would destroy Xamarin if they made it free to develop C# for iOS/Android.
  - moonchrome 12y ago
    Highly depends on what the deal between Xamarin and MS is. For example they could work out a deal with Xamarin where they would provide free access under same terms as Visual Studio community (the >5 people) and Microsoft could pay them more than enough to cover their loss while promoting their development stack.
    - Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
      Doesn't Xamarin have a load of other stuff around testing and the like? It could just mean a move away from Xamarin as a core development tool into producing things which support development on these platforms.
      - moonchrome 12y ago
        I highly doubt Microsoft will release and support Linux/OSX/iOS/Android API bindings. What will likely happen is Microsoft will : * open source the core libs * open source the JIT * make sure it works on all platforms * open source the ASP.NET and port it to Linux/Mac so they can separate Azure from being a Windows only cloud service Xamarin then packages these in to Mono and Xamarin.iOS/Android providing a layer on top of MS core stuff. Microsoft will then be able to sell .NET as a truly cross-platform solution and make VS/Azure more popular where it's probably losing to other OSS ATM.
        Tyrannosaurs 12y ago
        I agree re Linux and OSX but I could see iOS and Android. The scale of mobile is such that if you want to be relevant in the way MS have historically, they're two platforms you can't ignore.
zo1 12y ago
I think it's just an oddly-worded sentence. They're saying that you can use VS to target multiple platforms (including IOS). They're absolutely not saying you'll be able to run Visual Studio on an IPad.

Danieru 12y ago

One theory I've read is Microsoft wants Xamarin to stay third-party so Microsoft's competitors continue working with them. Xamarin is working with a great many companies who would think twice about working with Microsoft directly. This way Microsoft can shove money to Xamarin to forward the ecosystem without scaring anyone.

wernercd 12y ago
Nice theory... but they went the opposite direction with Nokia. I don't think they'd have any issue purchasing Xamarin and importing/re-branding.
- coldtea 12y ago
  Nokia is a totally different case, so doesn't invalidate his theory. Nokia sells to consumers, so there wasn't the problem (as his theory suggests) of corporate clients not wanting to have business with MS. Not saying that his theory is correct, just that it's different case to Nokia.
  - Finster 12y ago
    Nokia was also definitely pre-Nadella. The Xamarin theory supports Nadella's whole "cloud and mobile services" schtick.
- theoutlander 12y ago
  AFAIK, Nokia didn't want to be affiliated with MS...not the other way around.
btown 12y ago
Not only that, but Xamarin's independent existence is like free insurance for companies choosing .NET - even if Microsoft were to drop support (unlikely, but look at Silverlight), Xamarin would continue providing a viable way forward for the language and runtime. Now that MS's .NET is open source, Xamarin's .NET is like OpenJDK - Xamarin is a governing body and authority for the language/API if Microsoft were to drop it. So it's good for Microsoft to have Xamarin as an independent entity.

wanda 12y ago

http://blog.xamarin.com/microsoft-and-xamarin-expand-global-partnership/ http://blog.xamarin.com/microsoft-and-xamarin-expand-global-... "Today we’re excited to take the partnership to the next level, by announcing: 1. Support for Visual Studio 2015 – Today, we released support for the Visual Studio 2015 Preview release, which includes Xamarin templates that make it easier to discover and download Xamarin from within the IDE. 2. Free Xamarin Starter Edition for Visual Studio Users – Today, Microsoft announced a new, free edition to Visual Studio—Visual Studio Community. Visual Studio Community contains support for extensions, which means it will be Xamarin compatible with from day one. We want to help make Visual Studio Community a tool for anyone to create native apps for iOS and Android, so we are announcing our plans to enable our freely available Xamarin Starter Edition to work with Visual Studio Community. We are also doubling the size limit on apps that can be created with Xamarin Starter Edition, so that you can build even more capable apps for free. This will be available in the coming weeks. 3. Special offers for MSDN Subscribers – We’ve worked with Microsoft to create a 20% discount for Visual Studio Premium and Ultimate MSDN subscribers to purchase Xamarin Business or Enterprise Editions, or world-class mobile development training with Xamarin University, available up to 60 days after the Visual Studio Purchase."

squeaky-clean 12y ago
So the free Xamarin users will get Visual Studio support, but us with Xamarin Indie still have to use Xamarin Studio? I just want to use VS with Xamarin! But I guess that won't happen, because that's the only worthwhile reason to purchase their Business subscription (and the whole >5 employees clause).
- mb_72 12y ago
  Yes ... I'm in the same boat, however the 'core' of my app I developed as a PCL, the substantial part of developing for which I spend time in VS and using Resharper. Xamarin Studio is pretty OK, but VS is damn good to develop with.

nathas 12y ago

I believe they mean you write code in VS and target Android/iOS/etc for builds. It sounds like it's moving more towards a regular IDE than very .NET specific. It does not sound like you can run VS on different devices.