VisualStudio "Orcas" March CTP available

For those of you who want to see what's next in the world of VisualStudio, check out the latest VisualStudio "Orcas" CTP. Orcas promises to bring major enhancements to everyone's favorite IDE, including improved design-time support for CSS, IntelliSense for JavaScript, and full built-in support for working with ASP.NET AJAX.

Scott Guthrie recently posted some screenshots of the next VisualStudio on his blog, along with a great set of slides that he presented at WebDD in the UK. Checkout his post to get an even better perspective about the changes coming in Orcas and how they'll help you develop more efficiently.

Among the many new features in the March CTP, I find these particularly exciting:

• Full LINQ integration with C# and VB
• New ASP.NET WebForms design-surface with advanced CSS features
• JavaScript IntelliSense for ASP.NET AJAX and browser DOM
• New WPF designer with XAML IntelliSense
• New peer-to-peer networking APIs for adding collaboration features to apps

Download the 7 part self-extracting EXE or download the 7 part Virtual PC Image today to start playing with the future of VisualStudio. If this is your first time with the Orcas CTPs (and you're going the recommended VPC route), you'll first need to download a 1.1 GB base image and then about 4.5 GB of additional files. So maybe you'll be playing with the CTP tomorrow...