In this step-by-step tutorial we will install Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition; any pre requirement prior to the installation will be checked and verified by the setup wizard. To install visual studio 2008, download the files from Microsoft MSDN and navigate to setup.exe, to lunch the installation screen. Then click the Install Visual Studio 2008 link to start the installation.
The setup wizard will start copying needed files into a temporary folder. Just wait.
In the welcome setup wizard page you can enable the tick box to send your setup experience to Microsoft if you want. In this case we jest leave it unchecked. Just wait for the wizard to load the installation components.
The setup wizard will list down all the required components need to be installed. Any already installed components will also be mentioned. Notice that VS 2008 (version 8.x) needs .NET Framework version 3.5. Key in the Product key and accept the license terms. Then click the Next button.
In the installation type, as usual we have three choices: Default, Full or Custom. In this case we select the Full installation type and accept the default installation path given. You can change the installation path and the required space for every installation type also displayed when we select it.
Default installation can be especially handy for average users who will likely not require the entire software package included in the CD, but who also would not necessarily feel comfortable performing a Custom Install—which would require the user to figure out just what features you do need. A full installation can be optimal if hard drive space is not at a premium, and if you suspect you might need all the features offered in Visual Studio 2008. A Custom Install, however, is meant for the Intermediate to Expert user who knows what (s) he does or doesn’t need.
In this case, select the Full and click the Install button. Full installation required around 4.3 GB of space.
The installation starts. Just wait and see the step-by-step, Visual Studio 2008 components being installed.
Any component that failed to be installed will be marked with the Red Cross mark instead of the green tick for the successful. After the installation is completed successfully, you can install the documentation (MSDN library) by following the instruction mention in the above Figure. In this case we just exit the setup wizard by clicking the Finish button.
The Windows Start menu for Visual Studio 2008 is shown below.
Launch Visual Studio 2008 by selecting Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 menu > Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 sub-menu; Depending on your programming needs select the settings. The VS 2008 IDE will change the development settings to the respective type when we choose to create a project in that type when the IDE already opened next type. Select Start Visual Studio button.
The VS 2008 is configuring the development environments to the chosen one for the first time use.
Well, the following is the VS 2008 IDE. Looks not so different to the VS 2005 other than the color;
Microsoft.NET 