Availability of Features in Visual Studio Versions
The following table shows whether certain features are supported in the listed versions of Visual Studio Professional.
"Yes" means that the Visual Studio version includes the feature.
"Add-in" means that the Visual Studio version does not include the feature, but it is available and you can get more information by clicking the link.
"No" means that the Visual Studio version does not include the feature.
Visual Studio 2008 |
Visual Studio 2008 SP1 |
Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 with SP1 |
Visual Studio 2012 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
Supported .NET Framework versions |
2.0, 3.0, 3.5 |
2.0, 3.0, 3.5 SP1 |
2.0, 3.0, 3.5 SP1, 4 |
2.0, 3.0, 3.5 SP1, 4, 4.5 |
Local Web Server |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
SQL Server Express |
2005 |
2008 |
2008 |
2008 |
Connect to SQL Server versions through Server Explorer |
2000, 2005, 2008 |
2000, 2005, 2008 |
2000, 2005, 2008 |
2000, 2005, 2008 |
ASP.NET AJAX 1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
ASP.NET Model View Controller |
Yes |
Yes |
||
ASP.NET Dynamic Data |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
MSBuild |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
ADO.NET Entity Framework |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
ADO.NET Data Services |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Windows Azure Tools |
No |
Add-in |
Add-in |
Add-in |
Smart Devices |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Parallel Computing |
Add-in |
Add-in |
Yes 2 |
Yes |
Windows Communication Foundation |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Windows Presentation Foundation |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
.NET Rich Internet Application Services |
No |
Add-in |
Yes |
|
Silverlight 1 |
Yes |
Yes |
||
Silverlight 2 |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Silverlight 3 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Silverlight 4 |
No |
Yes |
||
Silverlight 5 |
No |
No |
Add-in, SP1 only. |
Yes |
IronPython |
||||
IronRuby |
||||
Visual Studio Tools for Office |
Yes 4 (Office 2003, Office 2007) |
Yes 4 (Office 2003, Office 2007) |
Yes 4 (Office 2007, Office 2010) |
Yes 4(Office 2010) |
Report Projects |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Report Wizard |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) |
Yes (Except LINQ to Entities, which is part of the Entity Framework) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
SharePoint Development |
Add-in, to target Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 |
Yes, for SharePoint 2007 Workflow projects. For other SharePoint 2007 project types, Add-in |
Yes, targeting SharePoint 2010 |
Yes, targeting SharePoint 2010 |
.NET Framework 4 Client Profile support |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
ASP.NET AJAX:
Server-side: The controls are included in ASP.NET 3.5, and are already in the Toolbox in Visual Studio. If you are using an earlier version of ASP.NET, for example, ASP.NET 2.0, then you can download the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions.
Client-side: The client-side ASP.NET AJAX Library is included in ASP.NET 3.5 SP1.
Parallel Computing:
Parallel Extensions contains the Task Parallel Library (TPL), Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), and the concurrency data structures; these components are included in the .NET Framework 4. The equivalent libraries for native C++ development are the Concurrency Runtime and the Agents library, which are included in Visual Studio 2010. The profiler and debugger enhancements are also included in Visual Studio 2010.
IronPython and IronRuby:
On the CodePlex Web sites for IronPython and IronRuby, several add-ins are available. Select the version that applies to your environment. The minimal requirement for both languages is the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1.
Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) compatibility and add-in functionality:
Visual Studio 2008
Visual Studio 2008 with SP1
Visual Studio 2010
Visual Studio 2012
Document-level
Word 2003, Word 2007, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2003, InfoPath 2007
Word 2003, Word 2007, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2003, InfoPath 2007
Word 2007, Word 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2010
Word 2010, Excel 2010
Application-level
Word 2003, Word 2007, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2003, InfoPath 2007, Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2007, Visio 2003, Visio 2007, Project 2003, Project 2007
Word 2003, Word 2007, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2003, InfoPath 2007, Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, PowerPoint 2003, PowerPoint 2007, Visio 2003, Visio 2007, Project 2003, Project 2007
Word 2007, Word 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2010, InfoPath 2007, InfoPath 2010, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2010, Visio 2007, Visio 2010, Project 2007, Project 2010
Word 2010, Excel 2010, InfoPath 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Visio 2010, Project 2010