La conferma arriva dal TechEd 07: il nome ufficiale di Orcas è Visual Studio 2008. La Beta 2 sarà resa disponibile entro l'estate e, in base ai feedback ricevuti, verrà decisa la data di rilascio definitiva. In questa nuova versione intermedia troveremo anche la cosiddetta Visual Studio Shell:
If you create software development tools, you’ll want to consider building on the Visual Studio 2008 Shell. A streamlined Visual Studio development environment, the Visual Studio Shell provides the core foundation so you can focus on building your application's unique features. Flexible customization options help you deliver optimized experiences for specific markets. Key Benefits are:
- Faster Development. The Visual Studio Shell accelerates development by providing a base integrated development environment that can host custom tools and programming languages.
- A Familiar Environment. Developers can build on the Visual Studio platform and provide end users a familiar user interface, speeding the learning curve for both.
- Optimized for Languages & Tools. Created in response to requests from our partners, the Visual Studio Shell gives you the option of integrating your tools with Visual Studio or creating an isolated, custom-branded application.
In attesa di vedere in concreto di cosa si tratterà, rimando a questo post (da cui è tratta la citazione precedente) per maggiori dettagli.