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With the launch of the Java Developer Resource Center, we've added a new way for developers who have never programmed using Visual Studio .NET before to try without installing the product.  The simulations, created by Learnit Corp,  are ActiveX controls that provide a guided tour (with audio) through creating your first XML Web service, Web application and Mobile Web application.

These are for true beginners to Visual Studio .NET, so experienced readers will think the content is too simplistic, but I'd like to know what you think about the technology medium, see questions below. 

Why did we want to do this?
Everyone that tries Visual Studio .NET really thinks it's a superior product from a developer productivity perspective.  The difficult part is that before you can write your first “Hello World“ application, you need to go through a long, potentially multi-gigabyte installation. Once Visual Studio .NET is installed, a lot of time you don't even know where to start and you can be a bit overwhelmed. In fact, we created a Getting Started page for just this reason.  Since the interactive guide holds your hand through the exercises, you'll know exactly what to do to get your first application up and running.

Questions for you 
Do you like interactive simulations as a way to try out a new product? Would you want more of these on deeper, more in-depth technology, or do you prefer non-interactive videos a la MSDN TV?  If we did these for Visual Studio 2005, what topics would you want us to cover?

Take them for a test drive

• Step 1: Build a Web Service
• Step 2: Build an ASP.NET Web Application
• Step 3: Build a Mobile Web Application

Step 1: Build Web Service
In step 1, you create an XML Web service that retrieves a list of customers from the Customers table in the Northwind database.  Notice that there are arrows and text (along with the audio) to guide developers through creating the application.

Step 2: Build an ASP.NET Web Application
In step 2, you add a reference to the XML Web service from step 1, and bind the data from the Web service to a DataGrid.

Step 3: Build a Mobile Web Application

In the final step, you create a mobile Web application that calls the Web service from step 1 and you see how Visual Studio will intelligently render HTML and WML using Mobile Web controls.