Here’s what Kraig has to say about the November 2010 SQL Server Model CTP that matches the RTM of Visual Studio 2010:

A update of the SQL Server Modeling CTP (November 2009) that’s compatible with the official (RTM) release of Visual Studio 2010 is now available on the Microsoft Download Center.  This release is strictly an updated version of the original November 2009 CTP release to support the final release of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.

• SQL Server Modeling Nov09 CTP Release 3
• Release Notes

We highly recommend you uninstall and install in the following order.

1. Uninstall any existing SQL Server Modeling CTP from Add and Remove Programs
2. Uninstall Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 or RC from Add and Remove Programs
3. Install Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4
4. Install the SQL Server Modeling November 2009 CTP Release 3.

If you are unable to uninstall SQL Server Modeling CTP from Add and Remove Programs for any reason, you can remove each component using the following command lines.  You need to run all three in order to completely remove SQL Server Modeling CTP so you can install the new CTP:

M Tools: Msiexec /x {B7EE8AF2-3DCC-4AFE-8BD2-5A6CE9E85B3A}

Quadrant: Msiexec /x {61F3728B-1A7D-4dd8-88A5-001CBB9D2CFA}

Domains: Msiexec /x {11DA75C8-10AB-4288-A1BB-B3C2593524A7}

Note: These steps will not remove the SQL Server Modeling CTP entry in Add and Remove Programs but you will be able to install the new CTP.

Thank you and enjoy Visual Studio 2010!

Kraig Brockschmidt
Program Manager, Data Developer Center

Here’s how the Deep Fried guys describe episode 45: “At PDC 2009, ‘Oslo’ was renamed to SQL Modeling and it left a lot of developers scratching their heads. What better way to sort it all out than to talk with someone deep into the stack. We sat down with Lars Corneliussen to see how this is all going to turn out and it what it means for developers. Definitely an interesting show as it paints a different picture about where things are going with ‘M’, ‘M’ Grammar, SQL modeling, Entity Framework, Quadrant and so on.” Check it out!

An update of the SQL Server Modeling CTP (November 2009) that's compatible with Visual Studio 2010 RC has been released on the Microsoft Download Center. This release is strictly an updated version of the original November 2009 CTP release to support Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 RC. It contains no other fixes outside of those required to work with the new RC. Enjoy!

We are currently preparing a release of the SQL Server Modeling November 2009 CTP that will install and operate with Visual Studio Release Candidate. We expect to make this release available the first week of March and will make an announcement here at that time.

We are also planning for another release of the November CTP that matches the final Visual Studio product (RTM) when that product becomes generally available.

The Telerik LINQ to “M” implementation allows developers to use LINQ statements with blocks of "M" values, pure text or the results of a transformed DSL. With the new SQL Server Modeling November 2009 CTP there are some changes to the "M" specification, so Telerik has updated their core DLLs to accommodate these changes. Enjoy!

"In the 43rd episode of Deep Fried Bytes, Keith and Woody sit down at PDC 2009 with Microsoft’s Douglas Purdy to discuss all things data. Do you remember Oslo from the previous PDC event? Well Oslo has been rebranded to SQL Server Modeling Services to help developers store and manage models for the enterprise. Modeling Services enables you to more productive when building and managing data-driven applications. The guys also get the low down from Douglas on a new web protocol for querying and updating data called OData."

Rockford Lhotka has created a series of three videos showing how he has applied the SQL Server Modeling, specifically "M", to drive his well-known CSLA, a framework for building the business logic layer in your applications. He shows a custom domain-specific language (DSL) that lets you create a CSLA entity, along with the data serialization, business logic and a forms-based UI, resulting in a 95% coding savings (his words, not mine : ). Enjoy!

Soma has posted a lovely description of what’s new in the Entity Framework for .NET 4.0, including:

• Foreign Key support so you can add a row without requiring you to download an object just to get the foreign key.
• Lazy Loading support so as you traverse a property that is a collection, the data is pulled on demand.
• Plain Old CLR Object support (POCO) so that you can build your own classes and have EF serialize those instead of generating new classes.
• T4-based Code Generation in case you do want classes generated but want to control the code.
• Data binding support for WPF and WinForms.
• WCF support with serialization attribute generation.
• Much better SQL generation so that you can read it better when you need what’s going on over the wire and so that it’s more efficient.
• Much better support for complex return values from stored procedures.

That Soma really knows his stuff! Check it out.