Is there any risk while using Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2?

Question

Is it safe to use the beta versions of Visual Studio?

By safe I mean, while developing any project in this studio, is it probable that it may cause some losses to my project? Or any other kind of risk?

Should I just use the studio 2008 and wait for the stable version of Studio 2010?

Purpose of the question: I am doing my graduation project in .NET framework (includes - C#, WPF etc.).So I don't want to put my project at any risk because of some issue regarding (beta) visual studio.Hence the question.

Answer 1

Visual Studio 2010 will convert your project files to its new format, meaning you'll have trouble if you want to go back to VS2008 later. I'd suggest holding off for now unless you can find a way to keep both old and new versions of the project files up to date.

Answer 2

As long as you are using a version control system, there should be no problem. Simply check out your project (or better yet, create a vs2010 branch) to an experimental folder and work from there.

There are no hidden risks when you use version control appropriately.

Answer 3

The biggest risks you will face are crashes, random tool window misplacements, and occasionally Visual Studio will refuse to start and you will have to reset all your settings to have it working again. ¹ (I am anyway reasonably happy with Visual Studio 2010 and don't regret having installed it; in my case the compelling reasons were unit testing and visual designer for Silverlight)

But as ocdecio says, there should not be danger for your code, especially if you use a source control system.

As an additional advise, target your projects to .NET Framework 3.5. Using a beta development tool may be ok, using a beta .NET Framework in a production environment is usually not.

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¹ This crash is supposed to be caused by using raster fonts for the code editor, but it has happened to me without using this type of fonts.

Answer 4

Another thing to consider.. usually the EULA prohibits you from deploying and/or shipping a product using a Beta version of the toolset. I'm not sure this applies in your situation but it's a point to consider.

Answer 5

There's always a risk in using beta software (but then again, there's always a risk in using any software). The whole reason it's called beta is because the company is not confident that it's got all the bugs worked out. Otherwise, it would have been released so they could start raking in the moola.

There are quite a few ways to mitigate the possibility of any beta software (not limited to VS2010 or even any programming-related product) from causing you trouble. Choose any from this list, which is by no means exhaustive:

• Don't use it on the same data (be it accounting information or source code) until you've run it in parallel and gotten the same results as with the older version.
• Plan a backout strategy if the software is so bad that it's easier to go back than to try and go forward.
• Backup your data even more frequently during the periods where you're using the beta software, up until the point that you're comfortable with it and can revert to a more normal backup strategy.
• Don't use beta software at all - wait for the real release (or SP1 if you want to be even safer). There may not be a driving force behind updating to the latest version.
• As a company, limit your exposure to the beta software to a small set of your employees. So, for example, if you have six different teams, choose the least important as a sacrificial lamb, so to speak.

My own personal preference is to wait until everyone else has sorted out the problems first. I didn't upgrade to the latest Ubuntu while it was in beta (I still got burnt a little bit with the video and X but that particular problem already had a solution on the net). I don't download the latest and greatest Eclipse until it's been in use for a few months. I'm still using VS2008 under Windows XP since there's nothing I think I need in the latest release (of VS or Windows).

We obviously have the latest and greatest OS' in our test environments but they're crash-and-burn environments that won't cause any real pain if they blow up (other than a rebuild but even that's pretty painless nowadays).

For your particular circumstance, I would probably stick with a tried and true version. You don't seem to have a pressing need for any of the new features in your question and the sort of failure you're talking about is not just losing some information at work which, while annoying, is probably backed up to the point where your career would survive.

A similar loss of your educational work would affect you for a long time if you fail your subject because of it. I would probably just concentrate on getting it finished rather than worrying about what VS2010 beta might do to my work. Don't misunderstand me, you should still be protecting your work even with VS2008 but I'd personally feel safer with that option.

Then, if you have some spare time at the end of your project (hah! as if that would happen!), you could try to convert what you've done so far to VS2010. If it all goes pear-shaped, you still have all the VS2008 stuff available.

Answer 6

Another potential issue I've heard of is that sometimes Visual Studio betas refuse to uninstall when it comes time to put in the RTM version. So as long as you don't mind reinstalling Windows when you're ready to install RTM and you've taken the other answers into consideration, then go ahead.

Answer 7

There is certainly risk in using unproven software in that it could behave unexpectedly. Some of the answers here focus on protecting your source code and that is a valid concern, but you should also consider other risks.

Could Visual Studio 2010 make your system unstable? Having your source code in a local instance of source control won't do you much good if Visual Studio corrupts your hard drive. Even if you backed up regularly, you'd still be out a good day or two (MINIMUM) rebuilding your desktop.

Also, what do you intend to do with the finished product? Will a professor attempt to open the project on their own desktop? Are you expected to deploy it to another environment? We see these "Works on my computer" problems using proven software, a beta certainly increases the probability of running into this type of problem.

So yes, there is certainly increased risk in using a beta. You can take steps to mitigate the risks but with important work those are steps you should be taking anyway. Is the benefit of using Visual Studio 2010 worth the increased probability of delays / data loss / grade impact?

I know I'm experimenting with VS2010 and I haven't seen severe problems but betas are not proven/guaranteed - the overall risk is probably slight but it is a risk nonetheless.

Answer 8

Since your project is for a graduation project and not for full production release, I would say use the latest/stable version of Visual Studio 2010.

You will gain more than you will lose as you will be using the latest technology which will be more useful going forward.

Answer 9

I guess I would approach the question differently...Is there any real value in using VS 2010 over 2008? I have been using both for a while and I would say, No.

I have had some mysterious crashes with VS 2010 and the application has disappeared on me, causing me to lose any unsaved data.

If you are integrating IronPython / Ruby or working with Office or VB style COM, there is more support for this in .NET 4.0. Beyond that, most of the changes add some shine to the IDE, but not much real value.

my 2 cents.

Answer 10

There is an issue for touch screen machines which may render WPF applications unusable.

A workaround exists. See details:

‘MS.Win32.Penimc.UnsafeNativeMethods’ Threw An Exception

fix: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.0\WPF>regsvr32 PenIMC.dll

Answer 11

Given that you've said the project will be "tested on another system", the answer is simple: use VS2008. VS2010 solutions cannot be opened by earlier versions, and I wouldn't bet my graduation project on whether or not someone else has VS2010 installed.

Other reasons to stick with VS2008:

1. VS2010 probably doesn't gain you much.
2. There are bugs, and I'd rather be working on getting my graduation project done rather than working around problems with my development tool.
3. If you need help along the way, those that can potentially help probably aren't using the same version. That may make a difference, it may not.

Answer 12

The biggest problem I have with VS2010 Beta 2 is designer. The Windows Form Designer generates buggy code (Microsoft Connect bug id 507267 and 499925). So I have to edit the form in older version of Visual Studio

I have a few other problems not related to code lose, like random crashing and wizard disappearing.

Answer 13

I've just spent two weeks in VS 2010 beta 2 doing some serious prototyping work. It all went pretty smoothly, and I really like VS 2010. At the end, I moved all the code back to VS 2005 and integrated it with my current project. My experience:

1. Moving the code back to 2005 was pretty easy. I did try not to use any C# features from 2008 or 2010. The only thing I missed was C#'s implicit properties, but those are easily fixed.
2. Yes, the project and solution files are not backward compatible. To migrate back, I just created new projects in 2005, and pasted the source files in through Visual Studio. Worked like a charm.
3. I did find one thing that would consistently crash 2010. If you use the splitter to view two different sections of a file at once, and cut-and-paste from one pane to the other, VS 2010 will roll over and die pretty quickly (not necessarily at the time of the cut-and-paste, but very soon afterwards).
4. There are some nice productivity features in 2010. You can drag a tab out and make it a window. In Windows 7, you can drag it to the top of the screen to maximize, or to the side to use have the screen. Dragging one file to one side of the screen, and another file to the other side, means you get the whole screen to edit two files, side by side. Very nice. (Even better on two monitors, but I was on a laptop.) The "Quick Find" dialog can now be docked -- that's a huge improvement.

As others have mentioned, use source control, but VS 2010 really is not unstable enough to be any more of an issue than VS 2008. Note that Team Foundation Server 2010 is also available in beta, and will be part of all MSDN subscriptions. It installs under Win7 and Vista. I'm using it for source control on my laptop! Team Explorer is integrated into VS 2010.