As Soma mentioned in his blog the Visual Studio Updates are a new mechanism we are using to provide ongoing value throughout the year to our Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server customers. These updates will provide features to support the latest software trends in the market, and also offer an easy way to deploy bug fixes. In Visual Studio 2012 Update 1, we’ve focused on enhancements to SharePoint development, Windows development, continuous quality enablement, and tools for agile teams. For more information please see:
Visual Studio 2012 Update 1 Now Available (Soma’s Blog)
Visual Studio 2012 Downloads Page
What's New in Visual Studio 2012 (note the sections: “New in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1”)
Below I have highlighted a couple of my favorite features and brought forward the Visual Studio Update 1 feature list from features from previous posts.
SharePoint development productivity improvements with IntelliTrace collection for SharePoint Applications
IntelliTrace has been enhanced in Visual Studio Update 1 to include a PowerShell module for collecting trace logs from SharePoint, filters specific to SharePoint events and a new dialog that enables entering a SharePoint correlation ID that makes locating and solving SharePoint development problems much easier. See Collect Collect IntelliTrace Data Outside Visual Studio with the Standalone Collector.
Continuous quality enablement with Coded UI Enhancements
We have added a three new features to Coded UI tests: the ability to configure search properties for recording on web applications, handle unexpected error/dialogs with playback retry mechanism and the ability to enable/disable HTML logger using APIs
Write higher quality Windows Store Applications with the JavaScript Memory Analysis tool
The JavaScript Memory Analysis tool enables developers to inspect the memory usage in their Windows Store Applications written primarily in JavaScript and be able to diagnose potential leaks.
See the MSDN content: Analyzing memory usage in Windows Store apps (JavaScript)
Reduce the mean time to recovery (MTTR) with Visual Studio IntelliTrace integration with System Center
Integration with System Center for IntelliTrace analysis of APM exception alerts enables opening of APM exception events from Visual Studio IDE as if the exception was captured during the IntelliTrace historical debugging session. See What's New in System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager for more information.
How to Provide Feedback on this Release
Feedback is an important part of this process. To supply feedback, please use the Visual Studio 2012 feedback tool. For your convenience the feedback tool automatically captures the build number and attaches system information - so we know any bugs/suggestions are for this technology preview.
The “laundry list” of Visual Studio Update 1 features from previous posts
SharePoint Features
- IntelliTrace collection for SharePoint Applications
- The ability to create coded UI tests for SharePoint 2010 Applications
- Web and Load testing support for SharePoint applications
Windows Store Development List
- JavaScript Memory Analysis tool
- Windows Store C++ unit testing enhancements
- ARM Native Dump Debugging Support
- Support for debugging mixed managed and native Windows Store Applications
- Memory Profiling for JavaScript Applications
Agile Teams
- Track project progress with a Kanban board
- Assign tasks to user stories through drag and drop in the taskboard
- Assign ownership through drag and drop in the people view of the taskboard
- Enables building code maps to easily understand relationships and navigate between disparate locations
(see also Understand, Navigate, and Debug Code Visually with Code Maps)
New Test Features in Microsoft Test Manager in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1
- Usability improvements for coded UI tests
- New: Cross browser testing support for coded UI tests
- Create an image action log from exploratory tests
- No need to manually install SQLExpress for Load Testing (will now will use LocalDB by default)
- Populate Test Suites using hierarchical queries in Microsoft Test Manager.
- Edit Test Case properties directly from the test runner of Microsoft Test Manager
- Command line functionality for copying entire test suites and all the containing test cases (Deep copy)
- Data collectors populate trait information for Visual Studio unit test grouping
- The ability to pause and resume manual test sessions in Microsoft Test Manager
- Publish test results to TFS from the command-line
- Automatic updates for Microsoft Test Manager and Microsoft Feedback Client
New Features in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1
- Visual Studio IntelliTrace integration with System Center for IntelliTrace analysis of APM exception alerts
- New Start Page videos for Visual Studio Premium and Ultimate
- Code Analysis for Windows Phone Applications
- Build applications targeting Windows XP
- Improvements for loading symbols and source
- Shut down MSBuild processes when Visual Studio shuts down
- The ability for the Test Explorer to group and filter tests
New Features in Team Foundation Server in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1
- Improved navigation and usability enhancements for Web Access for example: Web Access now remembers the state of the splitters, contains styling improvements, added several animations and contains next/previous work item navigation
- Usability improvements for Version Control
- Updated Team Foundation Server Web Access navigation styling
- Show counts for links and attachments in Team Foundation Web Access
- Drag and drop queries and query folders in Web Access
- Expand and Collapse the left navigation pane in web access
- Version control supports paths longer than 260 characters
Note: The Version control warehouse still has a 260 character limit and you need to have this update applied to both your Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio client.