Visual Studio Shell Based Application

Question

My new project would be a custom IDE for proprietary Application creation. This can be a Shell based application on VS Shell.

I wanted to know what are the license requirement for these kind of applications. My question: If I create my project as VS Shell based Application, what kind of license is required by the end user of the Shell based application?

Answer 1

There aren't any licensing requirements for your own shell application, but there are certain rules with which you must adhere. See the SDK EULA located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SDK\VisualStudioIntegration\Licenses

Here's my summary:

1) Don't interfere with the automatic download and installation feature.
2) Don't interfere with the Visual Studio sub-branding (logos).
3) Don't allow creation of other extensions or shell applications without Visual Studio.
4) Don't circumvent imposed technical limitations (like loading of Visual Studio packages).
5) Don't break Visual Studio.