Is there a free version of VS that supports Portable Class Libraries and runs on Windows 7?

Question

I read a post from a member of the .NET Framework Team stating that VS Express for Windows now supports Portable Class Libraries. I can't confirm this particular claim, because I have Windows 7 on my laptop and apparently VS Express for Windows only runs on Windows 8 and above.

But, since I have some Portable Class Libraries (created using VS Ultimate) from my desktop, I'd like to know: Is there a free version of VS that supports the PCL project type and runs on Windows 7 so I can continue my work when I'm away from my main computer?

Answer 1

No, there's not currently an Express version of Visual Studio that supports Portable Class Libraries and runs on Windows 7.

Answer 2

You could use an open source IDE, SharpDevelop. They support PCLs and Windows 7. http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Default.aspx

Answer 3

You probably need Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows + Update 2 RC. That's the RC mentioned by the Microsoft guy,

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2014/04/04/the-release-candidate-for-visual-studio-2013-update-2.aspx

Of course, as he stated, you'd better wait for RTM.

Another way to get PCL project created, is to utilize Xamarin Studio,

http://docs.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/application_fundamentals/pcl/introduction_to_portable_class_libraries/