Installing Microsoft Pre-Release Software Code-Named "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta1 Release Candidate (RC)

 

Microsoft Corporation

July 2005

Summary: Experiment with early builds of Indigo and Avalon, get acquainted with the development experience, and provide Microsoft with feedback. (16 printed pages)

Contents

Overview
System Requirements
Installation
   Installing and Configuring Internet Information Services (IIS)
   Installing the Microsoft "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta 1 Release Candidate
   Installing Visual Studio Products
   Installing the WinFX SDK

Overview

Indigo and Avalon are the codenames for two strategic developer technologies that Microsoft plans to ship in 2006 as part of the Windows "Longhorn" operating system. In addition, Microsoft is making these technologies available on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The Indigo and Avalon Beta1 "RC" enables developers to continue experimenting with early builds of these technologies, get acquainted with the development experience, and provide Microsoft with feedback. More details about these technologies are below.

Note This is a Beta release. Do not install these builds on machines you depend on. If you have a previous version of Avalon, Indigo, or .NET Framework 2.0 installed you must read Uninstalling Previous Versions of Visual Studio 2005 before installing.

Indigo is the codename for Microsoft's unified programming model for building connected systems. It extends the .NET Framework 2.0 with additional APIs for building secure, reliable, transacted Web services that interoperate with non-Microsoft platforms and integrate with existing investments. By combining the functionality of existing Microsoft distributed application technologies (ASMX, .NET Remoting, .NET Enterprise Services, Web Services Enhancements, and System.Messaging), Indigo delivers a single development framework that improves developer productivity and reduces organizations' time to market.

Avalon is the code name for Microsoft's unified presentation subsystem for Windows. It consists of a display engine and a managed-code framework. Avalon unifies how Windows creates, displays, and manipulates documents, media, and user interface. This enables developers and designers to create visually stunning, differentiated user experiences that improve customer connection. When delivered, Avalon will become Microsoft's strategic user interface (UI) technology.

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP
• Supported Visual Studio tool set: Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 and Visual Studio Express Beta2

Installation

You can install the Microsoft "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta1 Release Candidate to support development with either Visual Studio 2005 Beta2 or using command-line development tools. No matter which type of installation you choose, you must install the programs in the following order:

1. Log on as Administrator and install and configure Internet Information Services (IIS)
2. Microsoft "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta1 Release Candidate.
3. Hotfixes to enable certain Indigo functionality.
4. If desired, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Beta2 or Visual Studio Express Beta2.
5. The Microsoft WinFx Software Developer Kit (SDK).

Installing and Configuring Internet Information Services (IIS)

For Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2:

1. In Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs.
2. In the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. In the Windows Components Wizard, select the Internet Information Services (IIS) check box, and then click Next.
4. If the Files Needed dialog box is displayed, browse to the i386 folder on your Windows XP installation CD, and then click OK.
5. When installation completes, click Finish.
6. Close the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, and then close Control Panel.
7. Run "aspnet_regiis.exe -i" from the directory "%windir%\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.50215."
8. Put a simple text file in the root \InetPub\wwwroot directory, and make sure you can access it using a Web browser.

For Microsoft Windows Server 2003:

1. If necessary, add the Application Server role to your server.
   1. From "Manage Your Server," click "Add or remove a role." When ready to proceed, click Next.
   2. Click "Application server (IIS, ASP.NET)" from the Server Role list. Then click Next.
   3. Check the box for Enable ASP.NET. Then click Next.
   4. If the Summary of Selections is correct, click Next.
   5. If the Files Needed dialog appears during the installation, insert your OS installation CD and browse to the i386 folder. Then click OK.
   6. When the installation completes, click Finish.
2. Run "aspnet_regiis.exe -i" from the directory "%windir%\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.50215."
3. Put a simple text file in the root \InetPub\wwwroot directory, and make sure you can access it using a Web browser.

Installing the Microsoft "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta 1 Release Candidate

1. Download the setup program at Microsoft Pre-Release Software Code Named "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta1 RC. The following introductory screen appears.

   

2. Click the Continue button to validate your copy of Microsoft Windows before installing. The following validation confirmation page appears.

   

3. Select Yes and click Continue to validate your copy of Windows and obtain installation instructions. The following page appears to instruct you on how to enable the validation ActiveX control.

   

4. Follow the instructions and right-click on the Information Bar and click Install ActiveX Control in the menu to enable the control. Once you install the control and it has run, the following download screen will appear.

   

5. Click Download to begin the installation process. When the following screen appears, you can run the setup program immediately or save it and run it later.

   

6. When the setup program executes, the initial setup screen appears.

   

7. Click Next. The following End-User Licensing page appears.

   

8. Be sure to read and understand the End-User License Agreement before you agree to its terms. If you do not agree, click Cancel and the program will exit. Otherwise select the agreement check box and click Next. The following installation summary appears which may be different depending upon your computer.

   

9. Click Next. The following installation progress information appears while the product is installing.

   

10. When the installation finishes successfully the following screen appears.

    

11. Click the here link on the "Setup Complete" screen to go to the Release Notes for the "Indigo" Community Technology Preview Edition. Contained in the release notes are the hotfix instructions to enable certain Indigo functionality:

    Windows Hot Fixes Required on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in Order to Use "Indigo" Queues, WS-AtomicTransaction and "Indigo" COM+ Integration Web Service Transaction Functionality

    The "Indigo" Queues, WS-AtomicTransaction support and "Indigo" COM+ Integration Web service transaction functionality will not work on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 without the installation of the appropriate hot fixes:

    • For "Indigo" Queues please install the MSMQ hot fix package.
    • For "Indigo" COM+ Integration and WS-AtomicTransaction support, please install the COM+ hot fix package.

Installing Visual Studio Products

If you have an MSDN membership you can now install Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 from the Visual Studio 2005 Prerelease Software page. If you don't have a membership you can install one of the Visual Studio Express Beta 2 products at Express Edition Beta Products. Each of the Visual Studio Express installations optimizes the development environment to suit a particular type of application developer. If you want to use the command-line development tools or program using a different development environment, continue to install the WinFX Software Developer's Kit (SDK).

In either case, you must now install the WinFX SDK to obtain samples and documentation, as well as install the Visual Studio project types appropriate to Indigo and Avalon.

Installing the WinFX SDK

1. Download the WinFX SDK. The SDK is downloaded as a CD-burnable .iso file. You will need to use a CD-burner to write this file to a CD and then you can launch the SDK setup program.

   When you launch the setup program the following installation screen appears.

   

2. Click Next to begin the installation of the WinFX SDK. The following licensing screen appears.

   

3. Read the terms of the license, select I Agree, and click Next if you agree to the terms. Otherwise, click Cancel and the setup will exit. If you click Next, the following setup screen appears.

   

4. Select Typical for a complete installation or Custom to select which items will be installed. The following screen appears.

   

5. Select the location of the installation, and click Next. The following installation screen appears.

   

6. Click Next to begin the installation. When the installation finishes, the following completion screen appears.

   

7. Click Finish to begin using the Microsoft Pre-Release Software Code Named "Avalon" and "Indigo" Beta1 Release Candidate.

8. Please read the product release notes to install any updates or other software required to support specific features.

To begin using Avalon and Indigo with a Visual Studio product, click Start, All Programs, and select the Visual Studio product you want to use.

To begin using Avalon and Indigo from the command-prompt, click Start, All Programs, Microsoft WinFX SDK, and select either the release or debug build environment that you want to use.