Microsoft rolls out Visual Basic for Windows Phone 7

Just a week after Microsoft released the final version of Windows Phone 7's developer tools, the firm has now added Visual Basic support to the platform's roster.

The Visual Basic CTP, which can be downloaded from Microsoft's website for free, allows studios familiar with the language to begin working on apps for the OS before any full release.

Indeed, as Windows Phone 7 director Brandon Watson admits, the preview is being used more to garner feedback from developers than anything else.

Bigging up Basic

"Ever since we first announced the application platform for WP7, there was a loud chorus of Visual Basic developers asking if and when they would be able to build apps for Windows Phone," Watson says on the platform's developer blog.

"We're not formally announcing the schedule for when Visual Basic will be fully supported. We're giving VB developers early access to the Windows Phone 7 platform so that they can start thinking about what amazing apps they want to build."

Included in the CTP are all the templates, designer support, emulator and phone support, and IntelliSense for Visual Basic.

Developers looking to make use of it must also be running the professional version of Visual Studio 2010.