Microsoft has signed off on Visual Studio 2008 and is expected to release it early next week-on November 19th. Earlier this month Microsoft committed to ship Visual Studio 2008, formerly code-named Orcas, by the end of November. The company is making good on that commitment and is expected to have Visual Studio RTM (release to manufacturing) on Nov. 19, according to sources and Microsoft blogs. The tool-set will be available on the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). "Visual Studio 2008 is anticipated out early next week, with availability for subscribers," the MSDN blog said in a late-night post on Nov. 16. Visual Studio 2008 and the .Net Framework 3.5 enable developers at all levels to rapidly create connected applications for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, mobile devices and the Web. Microsoft's Visual Studio Team System is also expected to ship by the end of November.