Downloaded the "Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone CTP" but realized you've lost some keyboard shortcuts, menu items, overall usability?  Read on for a cool tip!

This weekend, I got a great comment from KK telling me (and my other two readers LOL), they could actually use their tried'n'true Visual Studio 2010 RC version to do WP7 instead of the CTP!  Really?  That would be AWESOME!

Why?

Well, the Express version of the CTP, is well, an express version.  It's very cool, powerful, etc, but it's got a different flavour to it.  A different, hhmmm "dialect" since the menus and keyboard shortcuts are not exactly the same, and there is no addin/extension support in the express versions.

So, KK suggested checking out VS 2010 RCs project templates and selecting the Windows Phone ones.  hhhmmm seems legit, let's check it out.  First select File, New Project.

hhhhmmmmm kk, what's going on here I don't see..............OH!  Wait, there it is, look on the left hand side under Installed Templates and Visual C#, there you are........ Silverlight for Windows Phone.  BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Once you select that option, check out what templates are available to you. 

 

BEAUTIFUL.  AND, you're in Visual Studio with all of your familiar addins and keyboard shortcuts!  Now that we're back to regularly scheduled programs, we can grag a coffee and get coding!

 

Resources

TechTidBits article about WP7 and kk's comments about using VS 2010 RC in place of Express CTP