In 2010, Microsoft released the first version of WebMatrix, its free website-creation toolkit that serves as an alternative of sorts to the company"s commercial Expression suite of software. Several months ago, Microsoft announced it was effectively retiring the Expression series but the free WebMatrix software is still being offered.
This week, the company launched the final public versions of the latest installment in the series, WebMatrix 3. In a post this week on Microsoft VP Scott Guthrie"s blog, he talks about what"s new in WebMatrix 3, which was previously released to the public in a preview version in April.
The biggest addition is support for Windows Azure Web Sites, Guthrie writes. WebMatrix 3 allows its users to sign into their Windows Azure account if they wish to do so. Guthrie states, "Once you are signed-in your Windows Azure account and subscriptions are integrated directly within WebMatrix. You have the option to create up to 10 free sites on Windows Azure."
WebMatrix 3 also offers website creators better ways to handle live remote editing of their sites and adds source control support for working with Git and TFS. Guthrie adds there is also "an extension for PHP validation and Typescript support" in WebMatrix 3, along with "hundreds" of other improvements to the free tools.
Source: Scott Guthrie"s blog | Image via Microsoft