The next iteration of Visual Studio known under code name “Hawaii” has been released for community preview (CTP). Hand in hand with Visual Studio we are getting the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0, that brings us a ton of interesting stuff like:

• Improved native/managed interop
  .NET 4.0 will include a new native wrapping tool, which reads windows.h and an associated annotation file to create the managed wrapper. This tool will clearly reduce the burden on .NET programmers who need access to the Windows APIs, and free us up to work on the more important parts of our applications.
• New languages
  .NET 4.0 will include IronPython, IronRuby, and F#, among others. The three named languages have been available in some form for a few years now, but it appears that with .NET 4.0 they become “official” in the same way as C#, Visual Basic .NET. Both IronPython and IronRuby leverage the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), a subsystem that supports dynamic languages on .NET. The DLR has been around for a couple of years now, but with .NET 4.0 becomes an integral part of the .NET runtime.
• Threading improvements
  .NET Framework 4.0 includes the Task Parallel Library (TPL), a library of objects that make it easier to write code that takes advantage of multiple cores.
• WCF 4.0 enhancements
  WCF 4.0 will simplify the building of REST Singleton & Collection Services, ATOM Feed and Publishing Protocol Services, and HTTP Plain XML Services using WCF. Furthermore, there are number of messaging and correlation enhancements to expect.
• WF 4.0 enhancements
  Ten-fold improvement in performance, new workflow flow-control models and pre-built activities, enhancements in workflow modeling, updated visual designer etc.

Here is the download link. Beware, the system requirements are lavish, even the download image occupies around 7 gigs.

Nevertheless, to make things better, head over to Microsoft Connect page and leave your feedback regarding these products.