Smart Device projects in Visual Studio 2010

Question

Has anyone tried to install the new Windows Phone 7 tools? Mainly, I would like to know if it allows Visual Studio 2010 to open Smart Device projects from older versions of Visual Studio.

Solution 1

Smart device projects from earlier versions (e.g. WIndows Mobile 6.X) are not supported in Visual Studio 2010.

There are no plans to add this support to VS2010. You'll have to keep using VS2008 for such projects.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sa69he4t.aspx states that:

Visual Studio 2010 does not support mobile application development for versions of Windows Phone prior to Windows Phone OS 7.0.

For Visual Studio 2008 mobile developers, Microsoft released the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit, which works with the Windows Mobile 6 SDK.

Because Visual Studio 2010 does not support mobile application development for Windows Phone prior to Windows Phone OS 7.0, you cannot use the following features: .NET Compact Framework projects, Visual C++ device projects, smart device CAB projects, Device Emulator and Device Emulator Manager, testing tools for device projects, and Device Security Manager.

Mobile application development is still supported in earlier versions of Visual Studio, such as Visual Studio 2008. For more information about smart device projects, see Windows Mobile Developer Center and Smart Device Development in Visual Studio 2008.

Solution 2

Latest posting on the connect site indicates there may be some kind of support coming Q1 2013, with more details available in September on www.windowsembedded.com

Posted by Microsoft on 13/06/2012 at 10:55 

Hi folks,

In the first quarter of 2013, we plan to provide tooling for Visual Studio 2012 to 
create apps for Windows Embedded Compact v.Next. We’ll be announcing more details 
in September, including the roadmap for .NET CF. You can find more details this 
Fall in the Windows Embedded Compact website at http://www.windowsembedded.com. 

thanks,
Doug Turnure
Visual Studio PM