Silverlight WCF RIA Services Beta Released

Silverlight WCF RIA Services Beta Released was released recently, replacing the preview bits I’ve been playing with. You can pick up the new beta here. I'm still using VS 2008 SP1, but I am using Windows 7, so I download directly from here.

WARNING! If you’re not on Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2, you’ll need the hotfix mentioned. If you're still on XP or Vista, let this be the final reason to upgrade and do it. You won't regret it.

I learned first about the beta release from Dan Abrams blog post. Some coolness he mentions:

  • DataSources window. Drag and drop "tables" exposed by Domain Service onto the form.
  • Simplified error handling on client and server.
  • Data model inheritence flows through the Domain Service.
  • Presentation model hides DAL model with CRUD support.
  • Optimized binary channel by default.
  • Integrated into Silverlight 4 installer.
  • Handling of compositional hiearchy in data models.
  • GAC and bin deployment, with bin taking precedence.
  • Globalization support, user state and persisted sign in with updated Business Application Template.
  • Go-Live bits for .NET 3.5 SP1 and Silverlight 3.

Another item of note is the name change with the WCF moniker. RIA Services is now part of the WCF services family along with ADO.NET Data Services. This seems like a convergence of technologies in an enterprise ready set of tools and services that will bring Silverlight into the forefront of enterprise application development and delivery.

I'll be working on pulling these new bits together and getting my "Aventure" blog sample back on track with the new Azure SDK bits and these new WCF RIA Services bits. Given the plethora of changes, I'll likely start over with fresh new project templates and pull what little customized code that might be needed from my previous blog post on the topic.