ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

• Sep 13, 2011
• 51 Comments
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Today, during his //BUILD keynote, Scott Guthrie announced the availability of ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer preview. Note those words, developer preview. This is not even a Beta release. But there sure is a lot of cool stuff inside.

One great thing about this release is that the runtime libraries (our assemblies) as well as our JavaScript libraries are available as NuGet packages. So if you write packages that depend on the ASP.NET MVC 4 runtime, you can have them depend on our packages.

Also included in this release is NuGet 1.5 which was released just recently. If you already have NuGet 1.5 installed, you may notice there’s a new update available.  This new version includes support for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview. There are no other changes in it.

I’m also giving a couple of talks at BUILD that you’ll be able to watch online that cover some of the features within ASP.NET MVC 4. To find out more about the release, visit our ASP.NET MVC 4 information page.

Install it

You can install it via the Web Platform installer:

• ASP.NET MVC 4 for Visual Studio 2010
• ASP.NET MVC 4 for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview.

Or if you prefer to download the installers directly, visit the download details page.

We also published an ASP.NET MVC 3 installer for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview if you’d like to try that out.

Closing Thoughts

I’m excited about this release and will be interested to hear your feedback. I also want to recognize the heroic efforts of the ASP.NET MVC team (and NuGet and ASP.NET Web Pages) to get this release ready in time with all the features that it contains. I’m privileged to work with such great folks.

What others have said

Troy Goode Sep 14, 2011 1:53 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Release Notes page gives a 404 :-/

http://www.asp.net/asp.net/learn/whitepapers/mvc4-release-notes-rtw

Andrei Sep 14, 2011 2:00 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

I think the http://asp.net/mvc/mvc4 should note that it's Developer Preview. Other people can think it's RTW

Travis Sep 14, 2011 2:01 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Troy www.asp.net/learn/whitepapers/mvc4-release-notes

haacked Sep 14, 2011 2:03 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

We had some technical difficulties with the release notes. We're working on it. :) Whoops, looks like they're up now! :)

MisterJames Sep 14, 2011 2:19 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Phil great stuff...especially in the mobile apps space.

Have you guys thought about a model for template generation that opens the door to third-party providers? The new MVC template is a great improvement, but I'd love the chance to pick a template while the project is being created. Even if it's something I have to buy offline and throw in a dir (but would prefer in-tool support, of course).

Cheers.

haacked Sep 14, 2011 3:49 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

MisterJames would need to understand what you mean? When you launch an MVC 3 or MVC 4 project, the set of templates in there is extensible and you can add your own.

Breno Ferreira Sep 14, 2011 5:41 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Great stuff!!!
Are you guys going to release tutorials and documentation about how to create Recipes?

Regards,
Breno

Eric Hillenbrand Sep 14, 2011 6:54 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

We tried to load the Windows 8 Developer with Visual Studio 11 developer and installed the MVC4 developer. Issue is, when we open the Visual Studio 11 NEW PROJECT, we do not see MVC4 projects loaded. Is there something that we are missing?

Thanks!

Rick Sep 14, 2011 8:28 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

This looks great. The mobile views will be especially neat. One question - will the choice of view automatically vary output cache?

shiju varghese Sep 14, 2011 12:19 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Really Great.

Mubeen Jassani Sep 14, 2011 2:44 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

nice...
looking forward to your session at BUILD!

Venkat Sep 14, 2011 6:32 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

great..
When can we expect the release canditate? Looking forward for the RTM Source.

Adam Sep 14, 2011 6:50 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

The mobile development stuff is great. MVC3 seems miles away from MVC2, especially with Service Locator, Razor and helpers.

MVC4 seems more like MVC 3 and a half. That shouldn't take away from the hard work you guys are doing.

But my MVC1 application (which I only wrote two years ago,) is already 2 versions out of date! I've had a few people ask me, is MVC a good long term platform to use since it changes so much, so quickly.

I'm not sure this is true, but maybe you should call it MVC 3.5? I think every project hits a point of stability. Just think of all the people who still using FoxPro and VisualBasic 6! Maintained by thousands of happy programmers every day!

ehm...

... yeah, I see your thinking...

Long live MVC4...

Justin Sep 14, 2011 10:18 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Excellent Phil! Heading over to the information page now.

Do you have a target date set for RTM?

Sam Gentile Sep 14, 2011 11:22 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Excellent! We use MVC 3 but we really need the mobile support in MVC 4. However, when I click the link for the MVC 4 for VS2010 Preview it will not download the MVC 4 preview via the Web Platform Installer 3.0 saying "The product you are trying to install is not supported on your operating system." I am on Windows XP latest SP and I could always install and work with the other MVC versions. Is MVC 4 not supported on Windows XP? That would be a deal breaker for us.

Sam Gentile Sep 14, 2011 11:34 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Hud. I got it by using a different link. On the http://www.asp.net/mvc/mvc4 page if you click the button at the top labled "Web Platform Installer for Visual Studio 2010" it works but if you click the link further down "Install ASP.NET MVC 4 using the Web Platform Installer
ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Platform Installer for Visual Studio 2010 " you get the experience I reported.

Sam Gentile Sep 15, 2011 4:58 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Using the mobile stuff via the tutorial. Looks very promising and could solve our Mobile woes.

Ranjini Sep 15, 2011 6:20 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Sam, thanks for reporting the issue that one of the links doesn't work. MVC4 is absolutely supported on XP and I am glad you were able to install it through the button. We will look into the other link shortly.

Ranjini Sep 15, 2011 6:23 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Eric Hillenbrand: VS11 preview that comes with Win8 doesn't support web projects. Please install the full VS11 Developer preview and install MVC4. That should show the MVC4 project templates in VS11.

Ranjini Sep 15, 2011 6:30 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Sam: The links for the install button and the hyperlink on the page are the same. Not sure why you ran into an issue with the link. Please do let us know if you run into other issues. Thanks!

www.microsoft.com/.../install.aspx
www.microsoft.com/.../install.aspx

John Sep 15, 2011 8:33 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

When will the videos be up for these talks? I really want to see the one on mvc4 + mobile apps.

Horst Sep 15, 2011 10:17 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Please, please provide a full installer without WebPI!

Kevin LaBranche Sep 16, 2011 2:55 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Way to go! I am already loving MVC4 and have created a project from scratch as well as upgraded one and besides a little hiccup with WPI not wanting to install on my work PC (did on my home pc) it's been good.

haacked Sep 16, 2011 3:20 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Hi All, I updated the post with a link to the full installers that do not require Web PI.

Horst Sep 18, 2011 3:37 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Thanks for the full installer. Outstanding service!

chris Sep 18, 2011 10:37 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

AAAAARRRGHHHH I am just starting to learn MVC 3.0 and the .net 4 framework (moving from .net 2) .. and what happens another version of MVC is on the way already? little bit off putting.. when is MVC 5 6 7 8? coming out??

haacked Sep 19, 2011 12:06 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Chris relax and take a deep breath. This is an early Developer Preview. If you look at the history of ASP.NET MVC, we've released a new version every year. That's the rough cadence you can expect with our releases. Is that too often?

Beyers Cronje Sep 19, 2011 4:46 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@haacked, once a year per release is perfect. I for one wouldn't even mind a 6 month release cycle.

chris Sep 19, 2011 5:33 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@haacked, I think what you are doing with MVC is great I love the concept, but I do think your tempo on releases is a bit fast, due to the fragmentation it will bring. Already I have seen jobs advertised for MVC2 and MVC3 separately and soon MVC4? It doesn’t give me, the developer, much time to learn a new methodology and put it into practice before I have to start looking into the next version.
Maybe, as mentioned in a post above, an intermediate release which adds some functionality (such as the mobile apps), without changing the framework much? I think this may increase the general engagement with developers?
Hope that makes sense.
Chris.

Anthony Sep 19, 2011 5:42 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Can MVC 4 work on .NET 4.0? How safe is .NET 4.5 to install in production? Can .NET 4.5, MVC4 and (VS11 DP) coexist with VS2010 and .NET 4 and MVC 3?

haacked Sep 19, 2011 11:30 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

ASP.NET MVC 4 does work on .NET 4.0. I would not install .NET 4.5 in production as it is a developer preview and there's no Go Live for it yet. They can all co-exist.

Fırat Esmer Sep 19, 2011 5:30 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Thanks for the great news!

Harry Pfleger Sep 20, 2011 2:25 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

During the install of MVC3 tool upgrade I get the following error:
Returning IDOK. INSTALLMESSAGE_ERROR [A later version of NuGet is already installed. Setup will now exit.]
and the setup does not finish...
Any ideas... Thankx, Harry

haacked Sep 21, 2011 12:04 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Hi Harry, this is a known issue when installing MVC 3 after MVC 4. Go to Add Remove Programs and uninstall NuGet. This doesn't actually remove NuGet from VS (the installer is a bootstrapper to install the Visual Studio extension). After you do that, install MVC 3.

Joe Oct 12, 2011 6:43 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Does MVC4 support Spark view engine beside aspx and razor?

haacked Oct 13, 2011 12:19 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

@Joe just like every version of ASP.NET MVC, MVC 4 supports plugging in any view engine.

Joe Oct 13, 2011 12:56 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Sorry for missing explanation in previous message.
As far as I know the package ASP.NET MVC3 supports/contains aspx and Razor, but no Spark. I mean, in MVC3 (VS2010) if one is going to add view he has only choice aspx or cshtml (Razor). There is no spark.
OK there is surely way to "force" Spark integrated in VS2010 after installing MVC3, but there are too many manual works.
I hope MVC4 will integrates more view engines in VS2010.

Saeed Neamati Oct 17, 2011 3:53 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

The most major drawback of MVC 3 was bad support of Razor, in JavaScript. I truly love Razor and I think people should admit that it's really powerful. However, IDE can't support it that good. I hope in MVC 4, things get better.
Thanks.

Shyam Oct 21, 2011 5:34 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Just that, Microsoft would have named their next development suite as Visual Studio 2012 instead of 11

Asta Nov 10, 2011 4:20 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Hi Haacked,

Do you know of any tutorial that discusses the development of a database driven asp.net MVC 4 mobile web application with jquery layout?
I wanted to learn how to use the gridview, datalist, formview, data binding, etc... When developing asp.net MVC 4 mobile web application.
Thanks in advance!

Bojan Nov 10, 2011 9:10 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

There are great features in MVC 4, especially mobile templates and features to support mobile apps.

Great work!

dandreica Nov 17, 2011 12:00 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Are there any plans for MVC 4 to resolve the OutputCacheAttribute issue which prevents it from using declarative cache profiles?

More details here: thenullreference.com/...

asp.net1 Nov 21, 2011 3:55 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

great news!!!

Starforce Dec 08, 2011 6:18 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

I just want to know when RTM version will be release? Not big into betas.

Steven Dec 22, 2011 10:08 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

So I have VS 2010 and 11 installed. I have MVC 4 installed. I see the projects in 2010, not in 11. I tried to reinstall MVC4, and it specifically says for VS 2010, and that it is already installed.

So back to an earlier question, is there a way to use MVC4 in Visual Studio 11. (And yes I have the full developer preview of Ultimate VS 11 installed.)

Thanks

Tadeusz Jan 20, 2012 7:44 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

When will be released ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview 2, or maybe beta 1

Tadeusz Jan 21, 2012 2:54 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

What about native integrating knockout.js and partial views, (something like generating unobtrusive client validations from existing server site validations)? Example: by using the return PartialView("_ViewName", ViewModel) first time, we’ll send view model json data and unobtrusive knockout code generated from the partial view, but any subsequent usage will send only new json data and only the name of the partial view. In most my scenarios, it saves bandwidth and server resources. The most important, it allows strongly typed html helpers in such partial views, so we remove many error sources just by simple compilation. We save a lot of time during testing modifications in applications, also less TDD tests will be necessary to cover all important behaviors (comparing to classic manual typeless client solutions). We will be more productive and develop better applications.

Nestor Lopez Jan 25, 2012 9:12 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

I agree, the pace of releases is too fast. I know this is a "tradition" of MVC development team, but it is not a good one. In the development of medium to big applications, one to three years of work are commonplace. We choose to develop in MVC 3 a few month ago (just released), by the time we can deploy the first modules to the customer, the application will be based on an obsolete platform. That hurts us commercialy, not only technically. Take a look at the Android controversy about fragmentation and the efforts to put the platform under control again. In any other aspect, MVC is by far the most amazing framework we have been able to use and enjoy.

Oleg Jan 27, 2012 10:09 AM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

When will be the official release of MVC 4.0?

Chuck Jan 31, 2012 5:31 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

How do I uninstall MVC 4 Dev Preview? Its not in the add/remove programs control panel thingie, but I know its on my machine.

Bill Feb 04, 2012 4:47 PM

# re: ASP.NET MVC 4 Developer Preview Released

Chuck, it should show up in Add/remove. Does in Win7 for me. Standard VS 2010 environment, No VS 2011 preview.

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