New Version Of VS .NET, Compact Framework Coming

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3312031' target='_blank'>http://www.internetnews.com/dev-new...cle.php/3312031</a><br /><br /></div>"When Microsoft seeds the developer community next month with an updated pre-release version of its 'Whidbey' Visual Studio .NET, it won't neglect the emerging mobile market. Whidbey will come equipped with a vastly improved implementation of the .NET Compact Framework -- Microsoft's tool for building apps that run on smart devices such as Pocket PCs and Smartphones. 'There'll be a new version of the .NET Compact Framework in Whidbey,' Jonathan Wells, Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework product manager, told internetnews.com. Version 2.0 will add significant features, such as support for Web services and for the mobile SQL Server CE database. The software will be distributed next month at Microsoft's Mobile Developers Conference in San Francisco."<br /><br />Sounds like a major improvement. Both SQL CE and web services support are becoming increasingly important in Pocket PCs; web services are especially helpful in allowing connected devices to provide a lighter-weight or more customized interface than a webpage. What I am curious about is how 2.0 will be deployed -- will there be an XIP option, or will we have two versions of .NET CF on Pocket PC 2003 devices?

[opus]

Any word on whether the full Crypto API will now be supported in CF? Article didn't mention...

-- Opus

[Bill Gunn]

Version 2.0 will add significant features, such as support for Web services and for the mobile SQL Server CE database.

What does that mean? You can already call a Web service from the CF. Are they talking about running web services on the mobile device? If so, why would you want to?

[fletch]

yeah, and doesnt it already support sqlce?

didnt get anything from that article at all :)

[Janak Parekh]

What does that mean? You can already call a Web service from the CF. Are they talking about running web services on the mobile device? If so, why would you want to?
That's what I thought, but I don't use the CF much at all. :| I have no clue what they mean then. Sigh. :roll:

--janak

[Kevin Daly]

[quote="That's what I thought, but I don't use the CF much at all. :| I have no clue what they mean then. Sigh. :roll:

--janak[/quote]

The article is free of meaningful information. They did give details at the PDC.
I'm very enthusastic about CF v2.0, but deployment is an issue, in so many ways -

Windows Mobile 2004: It would be terrible if this was released without CF 2.0Upgrades (related to previous point): We are currently on SP2 of .NET Compact Framework v1.0, and as far as I know neither service pack has been included in any ROM updates from OEMs (part of a problem I have whined about before). The failure to update the in-ROM versions of standard software is rapidly leading me to the conclusion that what we need are machines with lots of RAM and most of their standard software installed in RAM rather than ROM.Enterprise IT support groups tend not to bother to apply ROM updates to mobile devices even where available, and for the average non-geek user the process must be viewed with some trepidation

.NET Compact Framework v2.0 is a significant improvement on v1.0, and will enable a lot of great applications, but to be a viable platform it obviously needs to be as near to ubiquitous as possible.

[JonathanWardRogers]

Will it have XPath support? Otherwise web services are not quite as useful.