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After having a look to the latest release of Longhorn, and wishing to test some of the new features of VS.NET 2005 CTP over the 4074 build, I realized that the installer of VS don't allow to install the CTP version in any version of Longhorn.

I have been working with MSI files and some time ago used a tool from the Platform SDK  to modify an installation and allow it to install in any host OS. And that's just what I have done with the VS.NET 2005 Installer. I have removed the Launch Condition that checks for a version number different from Longhorn's one. Generated a new MSI file, tried it on my Longhorn 4074 VPC2004, and it perfectly run on it. Have a look to the screen capture:

I used a patch utility to create an .exe file that will path the vs_setup.msi file of the CTP release. I have only tested that with my patcher, you can install the Visual Studio 2005 on any Longhorn build, but have not checked that it doesn't crashes the system files... So use it at your own risk. I have installed on my VPC, but previously made a backup of the Virtual Disk... :-P

You can download here the Visual Studio 2005 CTP Patcher to Install on Longhorn

UPDATED: Due to some installation problems with some users, I have repacked the full patch with Microsoft Patch Applicattion Utility. There's updated info in the readme.txt of the updated file (Updated @ 18-May-2004 - 16:13 GMT+1)

Please, have a look to the readme.txt file, and enjoy it!!!

posted on Monday, May 17, 2004 5:32 PM