I love the web. The web should allow anyone to access any experience that they need without the need for native install or content walled garden.
I finally figured out why my Windows Live Writer plugins weren't working! It turns out that new classes added via the Solution Explorer default to "internal" access. Making the class "public" fixed the issue and now the plugins work perfectly.
I'm excited to share (even though it's old news) that all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions (Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual J#, Visual C++, and Visual Web Developer Express) are now permanently free! This is a game-changer for aspiring developers, opening up access to powerful tools for Windows and ASP.Net development. While there are some limitations (like only one project per solution), the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. Check out the official announcement and some cool new tools!
While ASP.NET 2.0 offers improvements and reduces code in certain areas, it's not a magic solution that eliminates all development challenges. It doesn't significantly impact the time spent on data access and business logic layers, despite the addition of new server controls. Although there are aspects I dislike, such as personalization, it's worth exploring further.