Microsoft announced the immediate availability of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 to MSDN subscribers; general availability will follow on Oct. 21. The company also outlined a simplified product lineup and pricing options for Visual Studio 2010 as well as new benefits for MSDN subscribers, including the Ultimate Offer, available to all active MSDN Premium subscribers at the official product launch on March 22, 2010.

Those interested can download Beta 2 at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx.

Here is what is new

• New testing options in Visual Studio 2010 will help ensure quality code.
  Enhancements to the integrated development environment mean that whether modeling, coding, testing or debugging, developers can use existing skills to deploy a growing number of application types.
• Built-in tools for Windows 7 and Microsoft SharePoint 2010, new drag and drop bindings for Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation, and interoperability with innovative technologies (such as those for the database, ASP.NET model view controller, unified modeling language, Expression, and multicore) allow developers to bring their visions to life.
• With the .NET Framework 4, developers can experience immensely smaller deployments with up to an 81 percent reduction in the framework size when using the Client Profile. Other .NET Framework 4 developer benefits include additional support for industry standards, inclusion of the Dynamic Language Runtime for more language choice, new support for high-performance middle-tier applications (including parallel programming, workflow and service-oriented applications) and backward compatibility through side-by-side installation with .NET Framework 3.5.

See also the video below (you need to have silverlight to see it)

Dave Mendlen of Microsoft Corp. discusses availability of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2, the March 22, 2010, launch date, and the simplified product lineup for Visual Studio 2010, including the Ultimate Offer and new MSDN subscriber

Make sure to watch the following video: Downloading and Installing Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2

In this episode of 10-4, Brian Keller takes us through downloading and installing Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Beta 2 and Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 2. This time-compressed video will take you through all of the key things you need to know to get up and running quickly with beta 2.

Download instructions for all the files in that video can be found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/briankel/archive/2009/10/19/using-a-download-manager-to-quickly-download-visual-studio-2010-beta-2.aspx