The Visual Studio 2005 extensions for.NET Framework 3.0 (WCF & WPF), November 2006 CTP provides developers with support for building .NET Framework 3.0 applications using the released version of Visual Studio 2005. These tools are provided as an early preview of technology being considered for the Orcas release of Visual Studio. These tools are not supported by Microsoft but provided as is to enable early adoption of the .NET Framework 3.0 platform. Users will be expected to upgrade to the Visual Studio Orcas release when that becomes commercially available. Please fully review the EULA provided to understand the terms of this release.

This release includes XAML Intellisense support through schema extensions for the editor, project templates for the Windows Presentation Foundation and the Windows Communication Foundation, and .NET Framework 3.0 SDK documentation integration. This release contains a preview of the Visual Designer for Windows Presentation Foundation (code name "Cider"). More information can be found on the Channel 9 Wiki site for Cider. This release does not include a graphical design surface for the Windows Communication Foundation.

This is the last release of this technology that will be in the form of a set of extensions for Visual Studio 2005. Any new technology in this space will be included in CTPs of the next full version of Visual Studio which is currently code named “Orcas”. The Visual Studio Orcas CTP releases will include some of the technology available in this CTP. The availability of this technology in Orcas will come online at various points during the development cycle and may have differences from features available by installing this product with Visual Studio 2005. You are strongly encouraged to install the Orcas CTP to get an early look at how these features will exist in the next supported version of Visual Studio.