Technical  /  Version: Update 2

Announcing Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 CTP 2

We are excited to announce the availability of the CTP of Visual Studio 2012 Update 2, as it bring forwards a number of improvements for the XAML developer. The following are some of the key improvements you will find in this release:

WPF, Silverlight and SketchFlow support in Blend

Blend for Visual Studio now support WPF, Silverlight and SketchFlow projects in the same version of Blend (support for these was previously available only as a standalone Preview release of Blend). With this CTP release, Blend now supports developing Windows Store, Windows Phone, WPF and Silverlight apps without needing to have multiple versions of Blend on the same machine. The table below highlights the various platforms that are now supported in Blend for Visual Studio 2012:

Target platform

Versions supported

Specific Requirements
Windows Store XAML and HTML Windows 8 Windows 8
Windows Phone Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 7.5 Windows Phone 8 SDK
WPF 3.5, 4.0, 4.5
Silverlight 4, 5
SketchFlow WPF 4.0 and Silverlight 4 Visual Studio 2012 Premium or higher

 

VS 2012 new project

Illustrator and Photoshop import support for Windows Store XAML apps

Blend now allows you to import Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files into Windows Store XAML apps, using the same workflows that you have been familiar with in WPF, Silverlight and Windows Phone. In addition, we have also enabled copying and pasting graphics from Illustrator directly into your XAML design surface.

Performance and Reliability

We have been actively working on improving the performance and reliability of using the XAML design surfaces in Visual Studio and Blend, as well as the XAML editor in VS. While our work is not yet complete, we have addressed a significant amount of feedback that we received in this release – particularly in areas where the XAML designer would take a long time to load for large projects. The following is a quick sampling of areas where you might see improvements in this release.





Scenario

Visual Studio 2012
RTM
(sec)

Visual Studio 2012
Update 2
(sec)




% Improved
Opening XAML file in a WPF project with a common 3rd party WPF control library set

9.9

4.5

54.4 %
Drag and drop a WPF control from the toolbox for a 3rd party WPF control library set

16

3.2

80 %
Opening XAML file for a large WPF solution containing more than 80 projects

71.9

6.9

90.5 %
Opening a XAML file from the default  Windows Store XAML Grid App with a large number of assembly references unused from XAML

35.4

4.9

86.1 %

 

In addition to this, we also fixed approximately 30% of all issues that were submitted by you via Microsoft Connect. We continue to make progress on addressing more issues as fast as we can.

As usual, we look forward to any feedback you might have and ways we can improve your XAML Development experience – please keep it coming!

 

  • asdf

    I’m a little confused. I thought that Blend was going to be fully integrated into VS instead of a separate IDE. Meaning, things like SketchFlow would be added to VS 2012. Is this the case or am I missing something? BTW, nice work!

    • Harikrishna Menon

      Blend is part of the Visual Studio Install now and is not available as a separate download, Some Blend features like the Designer, Property Inspector , device panel , Template editing etc. is available in the XAML designer in Visual Studio as well.

      • Anonymous

        But the version of Blend that installed with visual studio for me only works with the app store apps and only on Windows 8. I need to write WPF and Silverlight applications in Visual Studio 2012? Is that what update 2 will provide?

  • http://twitter.com/zubairdotnet Zubair Ahmed

    Is there intellisense in Blend yet?

    • Unni Ravindranathan

      Intellisense is not available for Windows Store XAML projects in Blend. It is however available for WPF and Silverlight projects.

      • Kai Ehret

        I still don’t unterstand why it is not available for Windows Store Apps… Even Windows Phone Projects have intellisense Support within Blend for VS.

        • http://twitter.com/leonmeijer leonmeijer

          Let’s hope Microsoft will add it in the RTM of Update 2

      • http://twitter.com/zubairdotnet Zubair Ahmed

        I have not tried this but a XAML developer confirmed this to me, I mean how hard could it be to add, lets hope CTP 2 fixes it

  • notrichsketchflowuser

    If I’m reading this right, Visual Studio 2012 Professional users won’t get Sketchflow support.

    If so, I’m a bit annoyed — I currently own Expression Blend 4 and use Sketchflow quite a bit. Is there going to be some way for me to get the Sketchflow feature? I can’t afford to upgrade to Premium, but paying for an upgrade to Blend is ok — I had planned on paying for it anyway before Blend got included in Visual Studio 2012.

  • Stoffe

    Im still wondering, Why, oh Why is it not possible to show a Brush in Design mode in Blend Update 2 CTP2 ?

    I have a xaml brush as a Resource Dictionary, I can see a small image of the brush in the resources tab on the right, but If I open the xaml file, it says there is not a design mode preview availible.

    Now, a brush, (meaning a vectorized image in my case) should be possible to show in the design mode, and It would be really good to be able to edit the paths in design mode, hence you can edit images you have in your project that are done in brush mode.

    I tried with a canvas image as well but nope, didnt work either.

    Support for this is much appreciated in the real version

    • Stoffe

      For instance, download a brush from the following page and try to see it in design mode…
      http://www.xamalot.com/

      • Harikrishna Menon

        Hi Stoffe,

        Thanks for the feedback. We will consider supporting this is in a future release.
        Regards
        Hari

  • Chris

    When will Blend offer HTML capabilities for projects other than Windows 8 Store Apps?

    • http://www.facebook.com/andrew.scott.313924 Andrew Scott

      The HTML capabilities were only found in Expression Web 4 before Windows 8 came by.

      • Chris

        That doesn’t necessarily address my question. As of right now in order to get the full capabilities of HTML, Javascript, and CSS editor in VS 2012 Blend you have to start from a template for a Windows 8 Store app. My application is not a Windows 8 Store app, so I cannot access these capabilities yet with the current release.

      • Alexander Morano

        Like Chris said, these features are now locked to Windows 8. If they were in the seperate, older product (Expression Web 4) prior, why no longer?

        This is a huge market out here in Windows 7 land (corporate Intranet App development?!) that just got ignored.

        Why the lock down? How is that good for innovation, or letting me get my feet wet before attempting to jump into a windows 8 platform?

        These all seem like arbitrary decisions to make/force us into Windows 8 given the technology WAS working on older platforms fine.

  • Bullimann

    I have still 2 Pages Errors with my WPF App in Blend! I cannot Build, Design Mode is not working and so on…

    UserControl is not supported, Style is not supported, Type is not supported,
    Setter is not supported, ControlTemplate is not supported,….

    What the… is going on -.-

    • http://vk.com/densmoke Denis Perevozchikov

      the same problem,i have reinstalled windows, but designer doesnt works still

  • http://twitter.com/kevinkuebler Kevin Kuebler

    While we appreciate the effort to improve the performance of loading XAML files into the designer in large projects, the overall performance of the application is still terrible. Once you have a file open and start making changes, whether in the designer/properties windows or directly in XAML there are frequent hangs and “spinning circles” waiting for Blend to become responsive again.

    We’re building a large WPF 4.5 application (needs to be .Net 4.5) and the lack of a usable version of Blend is a real hindrance.

    • Unni

      Hi Kevin,

      We would love to take a look at these issues. However, we would need to get access to the projects where we can reproduce these. Could you please get in touch offline at unnir at Microsoftt dot com?

      Thanks,
      Unni

  • Anonymous

    Great update guys! Performance improvements look promising and important tools like SketchFlow are back. Thank you.

  • noemata

    I purchased Expression Studio Ultimate with the expectation that this technology path was going to have a bright future. Microsoft hyped the product and associated technologies in a BIG way. I can say that there wasn’t even the slightest indication that Blend+Sketchflow+Design were in the process of being shelved in the context of their Expression Studio incarnation.

    Given the resources and range of people involved with these initiatives it is obvious that some Microsoft insiders are probably even more bewildered by what has transpired. Had I known that WPF+Silverlight development only had a future inside of Visual Studio, I could have paid a slightly higher fee for Visual Studio and least would have had an upgrade path.

    I like the products that Microsoft produces, but more than ever, betting on Microsoft product initiatives seems like a losing proposition.

    It’s all very very confused from an outsiders perspective. Please consider allowing the poor slugs that bet on Blend Ultimate to upgrade to some variation of Visual Studio. At least that would make us feel like we have a path forward with Microsoft technologies.

    Unfortunately, there does not appear to be an upgrade path for Expression Studio Ultimate users to acquire VS2012. It would be prudent for Microsoft to make such an upgrade possible. A lot of good faith was invested in Expression Studio Ultimate within the Microsoft development community.

    Without an upgrade option, one tends to feel orphaned and disillusioned.

    Previously, Microsoft has been very good at retaining developer loyalty. Please consider making an Expression Studio Ultimate license upgradable. Making the entire toolchain free makes purchasers of this product group look dumb to their boss’s … and shy to invest again.

  • Frustrated

    Can we expect when the final update is released that we will have full Blend functionality in the WPF designer (brush transforms, brush resource preview, copy/edit control templates, Sketchflow, etc.) and that all performance problems will be resolved? YES or NO.

    This is complete idiocy what you have going on right now. Absolute circus material. The “Metro” look of VS 2012 is also farcical, but at least that is a cosmetic issue. I do not not see how I can migrate a large and serious WPF app to Visual Studio 2012 given the state of things right now.

    • Frustrated

      OK, I loaded up this CTP. I haven’t played with VS 2012 in a while, so I’m not sure what’s been added when – but I can see that I can edit templates and see brush resource previews. The designer is looking more like Blend. Once in a template, I couldn’t immediately see how to go back “up” a level, as the breadcrumbs are not there at the top of the artboard. But I figured this must be possible in the document outline window, and sure enough, there it is.

      So, this is not as bad as I thought it would be. But, can I draw shapes? Is there an animation editor? If so, I’m not seeing it yet.

  • Anonymous

    I’m disappointed that I can’t combine projects or at least open up two projects side by side so that I can manually merge projects. At least let me rename my project! I have several designers here working on bits and pieces and it’s getting really hard to manage without starting all over again.

  • Mateusz

    How about Blend SDK and BEHAVIORS ? Will be released soon or we must forgot ?

    • Unni Ravindranathan

      This CTP does contain the Blend SDK for WPF 4.5 and Silverlight 5.

      • Mateusz

        ok ok but It is nothing new, I am asking about Behaviour for WinRT/Windows 8.
        I use MVVM pattern and it is very important for me.

  • Ji Xiang

    Problem In Blend for Visual Studio 2012 update 2 CTP 4 (Windows 7)

    1 Add a ProgressBar- Sketch

    2 Change the Orientation to Vertical

    3 Change the Value

    Nothing happened with the ProgressBar – Sketch

  • Anonymous

    OK, so now we’re at CTP 4 for Update 2. Any word of an RTM?

  • Dave Cunningham

    I just tried the CTP for Update2 and I can’t believe how broken it is. Like Bulliman below, i get errors complaining that Application and ResourceDictionary are not supported by WPF applications, but only on my main App.xaml file. I noticed that the CTP now loads my solution mildly faster than the first Preview (which took forever), but it’s still not as fast as Blend 4. What gives? I open the same solution in Blend 4 without any errors.

    Design-time resources are now broken. If I reference Design-time resources from another project in my solution, they do not resolve in my design view. And yet, I open the exact same solution in Blend 4 and everything works fine. This is completely unacceptable.

    I feel a bit cornered. We want to use .NET 4.5 for the async functionality, which involves an upgrade to VS2012. It seems like only the Preview of Blend or the CTP supports projects in 4.5, and yet all of the WPF functionality that worked just fine in Blend 4 seems utterly broken in the “new” Blend. I am willing to work with the Blend team (or the integration of Blend team, or whatever) to resolve these issues pronto.

    • Dave Cunningham

      If anybody is reading this, it turns out that the “Window is not an element of Windows Presentation Foundation” was a compound issue: Blend previously required an AnyCPU configuration to be defined, and it _seems_ like it also requires that the outputpath be defined in that configuration. In other words, it ignores any other Common project you might be importing to define cross-solution settings (similar to Property Pages in C++). This is not a problem that Blend 4 had… would be great if this were fixed before the release.