Visual Studio 2003 Service Pack 1

Visual Studio 2003 Service Pack 1 will focus on addressing product issues reported since the introduction of the product to the market. The types of fixes you can expect to find in this service pack follow the same general guidelines we have used previously:

• The Hotfixes and General Distribution Release Updates (GDRs) released between RTM and the end of the Service Pack customer beta period.
• Any fixes addressing security issues categorized as MSRC "Critical", "Important" or "Moderate".
• Fixes for product reliability and stability issues, including the crashes most frequently reported via Watson.
• Fixes for common "eligible" functional issues reported by customers. "Eligible" functional issues are those that do not require breaking changes, architectural changes, or Design Change Request (DCR) level feature work, and that do not create unacceptable product quality risk and/or cost of implementation.
• Fixes for the top customer and supportability issues as reported by PSS.

The goal of all of our Service Packs is to increase the overall quality of the existing product features while maintaining a high level of compatibility.

This service pack is currently targeted for final release in June of 2006. A customer beta period for Visual Studio 2003 SP1 begins March 24, 2006 and will continue through April 24, 2006. Customers who would like to participate in this beta program are encouraged to apply for “Visual Studio.NET 2003 Service Pack 1 Beta” at Microsoft Connect.

Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1

Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 will focus on addressing product issues reported during the first few months the product is in the market. The types of fixes you can expect to find in this service pack follow the same general guidelines we have used previously, with the notable addition of feedback received from customers via the Product Feedback Center, which was introduced first in the Visual Studio 2005 product cycle. Thus, the types of fixes you can expect to find in this service pack are:

• The Hotfixes and General Distribution Release Updates (GDRs) released between RTM and the end of the Service Pack customer beta period.
• Any fixes addressing security issues categorized as MSRC "Critical", "Important" or "Moderate".
• Fixes for product reliability and stability issues, including those reported by customers via the Product Feedback Center, and the crashes most frequently reported via Watson.
• Fixes for common "eligible" functional issues reported by customers via the Product Feedback Center. "Eligible" functional issues are those that do not require breaking changes, architectural changes, or Design Change Request (DCR) level feature work, and that do not create unacceptable product quality risk and/or cost of implementation.
• Fixes for the top customer and supportability issues as reported by PSS.

The goal of all of our Service Packs is to increase the overall quality of the existing product features while maintaining a high level of compatibility.

This service pack is currently targeted for final release in Q3 of 2006. A more detailed schedule of external interim milestones (e.g. customer beta period) will be posted when it has been finalized.