VS.NET Final Beta vs. VS.NET 2003

[prismejon]

Hi!

I'm currently using VS.NET 2002, but some months ago a Microsoft representant that visited my university gave me the "Everett" Final Beta. I'm thinking of upgrading before I start developing my next app. So what I was wondering is if the Final Beta has any time limit?

And what are the big differences between this Final Beta and the 2003 version? Is there any point to get 2003 instead?

Thanks
J-K

[FredMurphy]

The beta has probably expired already. Stable though the VS.NET betas have been, if you're doing any serious development I'd make sure you were using a retail version.

The major difference you'll notice is that VS.NET 2003 will let you develop for the Pocket PC. Other than that there's not a huge difference.

[prismejon]

Ok, I'm curently using the Smart Device Extensions with the 2002 version of VS.NET

Well, I guess I'll have to go and get the VS.NET 2003 at my university then.

Thanks for the reply!

[Kevin Daly]

I'm currently using the final Beta, and it's still chugging away quite happily (I'm not certain what would happen however if you tried to do a fresh install at this time).
I doubt that there are any significant differences between the Compact Framework development functionality on the final beta the released product, since the version of the CF is the same and the development tools seem relatively stable and not too quirky.

The main issue would be if you wanted to develop desktop Windows Forms or ASP.NET applications - that's still fairly buggy in the beta, and it's never a good idea to assume that something developed on a Beta version will work on the production framework. Also I believe some features may have been added or tidied up in the RTM version.
Also be aware that by default once you install 2003 (beta or RTM) ASP.NET will henceforth run against that version of the framework, even if the site was developed with 2002...this can cause problems. I have also had fairly serious issues with the ASP.NET worker process.