Friday 10 July 2009

Silverlight 3.0 - can't upgrade Runtime without DevTools?

Silverlight 3.0 has been RTW (Released To Web), so I rushed straight to Silverlight.net to install it. Because I'm a Silverlight developer, I already have Silverlight 2.0 and the Silverlight 2.0 Tools for Visual Studio installed (of course).

Silverlight.net immediately notices I'm "out of date" and suggests I install the latest version.


After the quick 4Mb download, the installation seems to be going well...


...until... oops, I can't upgrade the Runtime in browser if the Visual Studio developer tools are out-of-date (ie. for 2.0)??


I'll just click 'more information' to read more - oh wait, 404


At the moment it seems like you'll have to install the full Silverlight 3.0 Developer Tools just to view Silverlight 3.0 content (if you were previously developing for Silverlight 2.0).

Only problem is, Silverlight 3 Release Notes says
Silverlight 2 projects cannot be created with the Silverlight 3 Tools for Visual Studio 2008. To create Silveright 2 projects, uninstall the Silverlight 3 runtime and the Silverlight 3 Tools from Add or Remove Programs and re-install the Silverlight 2 Tools for Visual Studio 2008.
I'm not sure I want to force all my users to upgrade to Silverlight 3.0 right now - I don't wany my website to be the one that forces a 4Mb download until I really need it (ie. I start using 3.0 features). So... to keep developing on 2.0 (for now), I can't even view Silverlight 3.0 content?

Please - tell me I'm wrong and that I've missed something?

UPDATE: Thankfully, in a VirtualPC set aside for SL3.0, the tools happily uninstalled previous versions and enabled me to open, recompile and deploy my 3.0 beta stuff...

Here are some beta samples updated for RTW
at

1 comment:

  1. AmberCat10/07/2009, 08:48

    The Luddite developer (http://theludditedeveloper.wordpress.com) is having the same problem.

    This so called release to web is more like an escape from alcatraz.

    The release itself, the installer and the version control is totally unprofessional. FUBAR as they would say in some military circles.

    ReplyDelete

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