Visual Studio Shell - Creating a Custom IDE

Question

I know this is a very broadly scoped question, but what do I need to know to begin creating a branded, custom IDE for course-ware using the VS Shell in isolated mode. Very little useful info on this beast is available through searches, so I'm hoping for some tips and references from gurus that have been through the apparently difficult exercise of using this foundation.

Mavis

Answer 1

You can start over here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsx/default.aspx

Parachute

Thanks, but that didn't take me long to find already. I'm looking for the 'real deal', which is apparently quite more tricky than what MS say. But yes, thanks and have some points. :-) – Mavis

I know that the had something called VSIP Visual Studio Integration Partners or something like that, where you would pay 10k and they would provide some tools and SDKS, not sure if that is still valid. – Parachute

The basic $200/yr deal looks quite good, and is quite affordable. It includes only technical assistance, and drops business and marketing stuff, which I don't need at all right now. – Mavis

Check out the newest samples for VS 2013: blogs.msdn.com/b/vsx/archive/2014/05/30/… – Calandra

Answer 2

Here you have a basic example of how to build an isolated shell:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb685514.aspx

If you redo the walkthrough you will see how it works. Do this in combination with the examples provided with the Visual Studio SDK and you're on your way.

If you need any help, I will surely help you out.

(If you need examples for Visual Studio 2010 I can help you out aswell).

Attending