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IIS Express: Combining the best of ASP.NET development Server and IIS

As a .NET developer I normally run and debug my ASP.NET (MVC) sites and WCF services using one of two web-servers:

  • The ASP.NET Development Server that comes built-into Visual Studio
  • The IIS Web Server that comes built-into Windows

Both of the above options have their pros and cons, the ASP.NET Development Server is very easy to use, where IIS has a lot more power and features.  Today Scott Guthrie announced a new, free option – IIS Express - that combines the best characteristics of both.

IIS Express will work with VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, will run on Windows XP and higher systems, does not require an administrator account, and does not require any code changes to use.  You will be able to take advantage of it with all types of ASP.NET applications, and it enables you to develop using a full IIS 7.x feature-set.

Read more about it in Scott’s post: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/06/28/introducing-iis-express.aspx

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