I guess many Windows Phone 7 developers have been waiting for this news since many weeks. It’s finally official: the Beta build of the Windows Phone 7 tools is out. If you want to download the new version here is the link.

This new version has been released during WPC (Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference). For more information, please check-out:

• the post on the Windows Phone Developer Tools blog.
• this post by Jaime Rodriguez about all breaking change between the April CTP Refresh and the Beta build
• this post by the Blend team about the new features available in Blend
• the release note

Here are a summary of the changes in this new version:

• Despite HW acceleration effects have been removed from the platform (DropShadow and Blur effects are now no-op). This feature might come back later.
• Compatibility with Blend 4 RTM
• API near final
• Various fixes

Note that panorama and pivot controls are coming in the next weeks… Grab you copy now and enjoy Windows Phone 7 development 🙂