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Microsoft Posts ASP.NET MVC Beta for Download
Today Microsoft
released the official beta for ASP.NET MVC, its model view controller architecture for Web applications based on the .NET 3.5 Framework.
The beta's availability was announced Wednesday afternoon on Microsoft Product Evangelist Robert Shelton's blog. At the same time his colleague, Scott Hanselman, a senior program manager in Microsoft's Developer Division, was previewing the beta during his keynote at VSLive! Las Vegas.
During the keynote, titled "MVC and Dynamic Data," Hanselman told the audience that ASP.NET MVC should not be seen as a replacement for Windows Forms -- "Windows forms is not going away" -- it's just a different way to work, one designed to give developers more control as well as significantly reduce repetitive tasks.
"It's all about alternatives," he commented.
One feature Hanselman demonstrated was how MVC gives Web developers complete control over their URLs, meaning that Web pages won't need to have .asp, .aspx or any other "dot" extension. He also showed off some of the dynamic data capabilities of MVC, including some future capabilities scheduled to be released next summer.
While the beta is new, Microsoft has been releasing "Public Previews" of the software over the past year, with the most recent coming in Sept. The community technology preview version was released in December 2007.
Hanselman closed his keynote by emphasizing that the MVC team does not want to develop a modeling environment in a vacuum -- he encouraged attendees to contact him and his colleagues with any and all feedback.
According to Hanselman, the release of the ASP.NET MVC beta will officially be announced on Scott Guthrie's blog Thursday morning.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is the former editorial director and director of Web for 1105 Media's Converge 360 group, and she now serves as vice president of AI for company, specializing in developing media, events and training for companies around AI and generative AI technology. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Users" and other popular AI resources with a real-world business perspective. She regularly speaks, writes and develops content around AI, generative AI and other business tech. Find her on X/Twitter @beckynagel.