Microsoft releases Visual Studio 6 SP2

Thanks to everyone that wrote in about Visual Studio 6.0 SP 2: Yep, it'sonly been a few months, but Microsoft has already shipped the second service pack for VS 6.0. I've probably harped on this enough already, butI'll say it again: This is what happens when you sit in an ivory tower,decree a release schedule, and then just follow that schedule even when theproduct isn't ready to ship. When Visual Studio was in the final days ofdevelopment, I received a survey asking me about the "shipability" of theproduct, to which I gave it very low marks. This elicited a phone callfrom Microsoft, who were astonished that it could be so bad. Maybe theyshould have paid attention then: Since the release of Visual Studio lastfall, Microsoft has received tons of bad press, complaints from developersabout the quality of the product, and has been forced to issue two majorbug fixes.

And for you MSDN subscribers out there, wondering why the January releaseis late, this is it: Microsoft delayed it so the SP could get in there.

Like previous Visual Studio service packs, VS 6.0 SP2 comes in a variety offlavors (core and full) and includes all of the fixes from the previous SP.Microsoft recommends that every VS user apply the SP. For more information,and to download it, please visit the Visual Studio Web site