The Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2008 (aka "Orcas") has been released. To download it, point your browser at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700831.aspx.

If you're using the VPC version you'll first have to download and install the base virtual hard disk, Base01.vhd. It's available here.

After extracting the VPC or DVD, you'll also have to download and run a script to prevent the beta from messing up any existing Ajax development you may be working on.

Finally, if you are using the VPC image you can log onto the box using the username "Administrator" and the password "P2ssw0rd". It will prompt you to change the password once you log in for the first time.

Scott Guthrie has been blogging about many of the cool features that are contained in Visual Studio 2008.

Some of the things that I hope to try over the next few days:

• Working with Linq, especially trying to figure out how it would work in an n-tier architecture;
• Nesting master pages;
• Trying out the enhanced CSS support;
• Using the embedded Ajax framework and enhanced JavaScript intellisense and debugging.

Happy coding!