We folks it is finally here. Update 2 for Team Foundation Server 2012 and Visual Studio 2012 we are getting a lot of new features and some fixes. Below I have highlighted some of the Update 2 features I think are the best. There are 30+ enhancements for this update so I will only be touching a few of them in this post. I will be updating this blog with more new features as time permits.
The first new feature I like is work item tagging. Tagging has been a long sought after feature that allows us to tag our work items and query/filter them much like a web search. Tag are stored and can be filtered through the UI and used in the Work Item Query Language (WIQL).
The next feature on my list is the customization of the kanban board in Team Web Access. The Kanban board was introduced in Update 1 and the configuration has to be modified using the command line. I am glad to see that the customization of the columns has landed on the board itself and will allow non-technical users to make the modifications. I would also note that there were some fixes to the Kanban columns that would overlap the text if you had lots of states.
Emailing has gotten easier as well. You can now send an email from the backlog or a query to make things easy. This was only possible with a work item in previous version and I am glad to see it expanded.
Functional UI testing (Coded UI) got a little better in this release. There were some updates to cross-browser compatibility as well as allowing for testing of IE 10 in Windows 7. This biggest change in the testing space was the introduction of the Manual Testing tools to the web. This is a big mile stone as it allows you to build test cases and run manual tests from a web browser. This helps bridge the gap in cross-platform shops or testing on devices with a minimal footprint.
One of my favorite features, Fakes Isolation Framework, has also made it way to Visual Studio Premium. This is a big milestone and gives developers lots of tools to pull of unit testing efficiently. If you have not used Fakes Isolation Framework then now would be a great time to get started and learn how these tools can reduce the barrier to unit testing your code.
Code Map has also been updated to include enhancements to responsiveness and integration with the debugger. If you have not heard about code map you can see my post hear for the initial release in Update 1. Now in Update 2 the great new thing is being able to step through and build a code map while you are debugging your code. It is a great visual map and can help with complex code bases to add that extra element to help you understand the code visually.
While updating the Team Web Access here are a couple of new items under source control that make things more functional. There have been some additions to make source control viewing, comparing and navigation more functional.
The last new enhancement I will cover is the new Team Explorer Connection dialog in Visual Studio.IT has added some much needed functionality that will allow you to see recent connections to TPC's and Team Projects. You will get a list of them so that you can quickly move between projects without having to open the Team Project Collection explorer dialog to select a Team Project.
I will with those updates but there are many more for you to explore. You can find a complete list here of all the updates and features in Update 2. I will continue to post detailed information and new features on this blog going forward. Hope this helps someone digest the new features.
