Add-in Express sim-ships with Visual Studio 2017 RC
Last month Microsoft published Release Candidate of Visual Studio 2017. We, as Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner, were invited to support this version at the RC stage, and we were happy to seize the opportunity. Currently, VS 2017 RC is supported by the following 2 products: Add-in Express for Office and .net and Security Manager for Outlook.
Well, I cannot say that adding support for Visual Studio 2017 was an easy thing because it is significantly different from all previous VS versions in many respects. In particular, it has a new feature rich and fast installer that lets you install multiple editions, for example Community and Enterprise, on the same machine. Additionally, VS 2017 does not create usual keys in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\15.0\ root key, nor does it install Visual Studio assemblies in the GAC. If you are curious to know all innovations, you can find the details in these articles:
- Visual Studio 2017 Release Candidate
- Extensibility in Visual Studio "15": Increasing Reliability and Performance
- Changes to Visual Studio "15" Setup
- Some implications of the new modular setup of Visual Studio 2017 for VSX developers
“But what impact will that change have on us, Add-in Express customers, and our ADX-based projects?” you may ask me. Essentially, none. Add-in Express for Office and .net integrates in Visual Studio 2017 exactly the same way as it does in all previous VS versions:
If you want to know my opinion about this RC – it is a normal, robust product with a fast installer, ready for you to download, install and begin working with. The only thing that keeps me from moving to this VS version entirely is that the WiX Toolset does not support it yet. BTW, the full list of vendors that have supported Visual Studio 2017 RC can be found here, with Add-in Express sitting proudly at the top of the list :)
2 Comments
Good catch, Dmitry! The list of vendors is sorted alphabetically :)
I know, thank you :)