Hello, For the past couple of years I have been using LLBLGen 2.5 then 2.6 (2.6 Final, June 2008 )I use C# and Adapter with Visual Studio 2005. The database we use is Oracle 10g, but there are plans to upgrade to Oracle 11 this summer.

I am now planning on upgrading to LLBLGen Pro 3.0 and wondered if there was a recommendation to upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 rather than Visual Studio 2008. I feel that transitioning my current main project to VS 2008 might be smoother. Is there any reason to go VS 2010? I'm also running XP Pro. I don't want to run under Vista, but should I consider Windows 7?

I'm assuming that I should install a new version of LLBLGen rather than upgrading the current installation. From other posts, it looks like migrating a project should not be difficult, but that the earlier version should be kept "just in case".

In the earlier thread 2.6 to 3.0 it sounds as if there is no problem using just the new version of LLBLGen Pro. If I do that, do I keep the current reference to .NET 2.0 or change the reference to .NET 3.0 or 3.5? Or is this handled by the converter?

I realize that the answer as to which version of Visual Studio and OS is probably "it depends", but would still appreciate opinions. I would like to start using web services and other XML technologies along with my basic web applications.

Thanks for any suggestions, Carol

Hi Carol,

Good to know you want to upgrade. Don't be afraid, it is smoothly. I personally had upgrade some apps to V3 and 0 problems. It's wise though you read the Migrating your code and Breaking changes manual section. V3 its about the best OR/M Designer ever, and the LLBLGen Runtime Libraries have some performance additions.

You can still generate code for your .NETX (X= 2,3, 3.5, 4) application. If you will use LINQ2LLBL you will need you use .NET3.5, so you can still use VS2005 or upper. As for the OS, it's no problem, you can use your preferred one. I have V3 applications running on XP, Vista and W7, WServer2k, WServer2k3, with no problems. My developer machine has W7, so far so good.

So, go for it, V3 is worthy and easy.

Hello Daelmo, Thanks very much for the reply and encouragement. I am glad to hear that I can stay with VS 2005, although I'll probably upgrade soon. I would rather not make too many changes at once.

I looked at the reference to changes in migrating to v.3 that might cause problems and don't see anything that applies to my project.

So, next week I'll upgrade and give it a try! I have been very happy with the generated code and good support. I may have questions after upgrading. I'm also happy to be able to stay with XP, at least for now.

Thanks again!

Carol

This is just a personal opinion.

While you keep running on Xp and using VS2005, I'd like to encourage you to have Windows 7 and VS 2010 on another machine (or a virtual one).

While it might not be worthy to invest in upgrading current applications without actual need to do so, it is difinitly worth it to build any new application with the latest technologies. Keeping your skills up to date

A small note about v3 vs. v2.x: you can have both installed side by side. So I'd suggest to download the v3 trial, create a copy of your own project and migrate that to v3. (so sourcecode is migrated. the .lgp file is unaffected as a .llblgenproj file is generated by the conversion template).

This gives you two copies of your own .net code: one using v2.x and one using v3. You can then make the transition easily and see where what breaks and needs fixing.

vs.net 2010 looks great, but if what you have works properly there's no rush to get the latest IDE. I personally only use it to test EF4 code or .net 4.0 code tests. .Net 4.0 brings a lot of new things to the table, but in day to day work, it doesn't make that much of a difference as .net 3.5 did.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I very much like the idea of running two different environments and will install v3 along with my current v2.6. I want to be conservative with our main large application in production, and this will give me a chance to do this while moving on to .net 3.5 and probably first VS 2008 then 2010.

Rather than a virtual machine, I think I’ll ask my boss for a new laptop with Windows 7. My current Dell desktop is three years old and straining a bit. I do have an ok to purchase the upgrade to v3, and am pretty sure that another computer would be considered reasonable as well.

If only all employers were so understanding...

Matt