Visual Studio 2005

Visual Studio 2005 (codenamed Whidbey) is the fifth major release of Visual Studio. It removed the ".NET" reference from its name while still being focused around .NET Framework and bringing extensive support for x64 applications. MSBuild (Microsoft Build Engine) has been introduced as well. It also added support for the new, at the time, .NET Framework and Compact Framework 2.0. The Technology Preview of Visual Studio 2005 was released on PDC '03.

This version dropped support for Windows NT 4.0. It is also the last version of Visual Studio to support Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows Me and the RTM version of Windows Server 2003.

This version also introduces the Express editions, which were free to download, but ultimately replaced with the Community edition.