Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 were released on 19th November 2007 to MSDN subscribers and will be on general release early in 2008. I downloaded and attempted to install Visual Studio 2008 and this post describes the problem and the solution.

The problem is that Visual Studio 2008 stops at the very first pre-requisite (the .NET Framework 3.5):-

After a while it demands to know where to find dotnetfx35setup.exe (the .NET Framework 3.5 distributable):-

Like most software problems it really helps to know what it is asking. In this case it isn’t actually asking for dotnetfx35setup.exe because if you download it separately and tell it where to find it then it simply asks you the question again. The only way you can see what the problem is is to run the .NET Framework 3.5 installation by itself. This reveals that it has to connect with another server to continue downloading the rest of the .NET Framework. Of course on a laptop without a network connection it can’t do this and the installation fails. Unfortunately the Visual Studio 2008 installation process tries to install the .NET Framework 3.5 silently so this rather important nugget is never revealed and the false error is given instead. The only solution to this problem is to get an internet connection. I’m not sure if Microsoft intend to make the dotnetfx35setup.exe redistributable self contained (such as a dotnetfx35.exe) but I certainly hope so - the idea of software that only works when you have an internet connection is a very frustrating one for someone who travels with a laptop.

Technorati Tags: Visual Studio 2008, .NET Framework 3.5

In the last couple of years DDD has helped towards developing speaking talent within the UK by giving anyone in the UK the chance to present at a seminar-style event. DDD levels the playing field and allows anyone to propose a subject regardless of their presence or absence of previous speaking engagements. This attitude inspired me and I wanted to contribute towards this goal so I have written an article How To Give Great Presentations that I hope will help people who are new to presenting to get started. Even if you aren’t new to it I hope you will find some ideas here to make it worth your reading. The ideas are based on the seminars, conferences and user groups that I have spoken at over the last couple of decades and the Train The Trainer courses that I ran for Borland UK.

In addition you can download 4 Chaps From Blighty podcasts on this subject here and here.

If you have any comments or tips and tricks I’d be interested to hear what you have to say. Good luck with your presentations.

Historic news! To coincide with the re-launch of the 4 Chaps From Blighty website the 4 Chaps have started podcasting! You can download the very first ever 4 Chaps podcast here. This first podcast is part of a collection that discusses how to give great presentations and is aimed at first time or relatively new speakers who want to improve their presentation skills. Future podcasts subjects will vary across a wide range of information technology related subjects.

This one is clearly a first attempt but it marks the moment when the chaps entered a new world. Let us know what you think over on the 4 Chaps site.