I've wished for refactoring in vb.net for a long time. Currently, there aren't any "top tier" options for vb.net, even though the c# guys have a few. I've tried a few of the other offerings out there, and never really found anything that gave me that wow feeling. With vs.net 2005 coming, though, it looks like us vb.net developers will be well taken care of, even if you don't want to purchase some additional addons.

This morning I saw over on AddressOf that Refactor! has a public beta for vs.net 2005 available now. Not only that, but the beta is of a set of community bits that will be free from Developer Express. Fantastic! I think its awesome that Developer Express stepped up to the plate and is offering a community version, since MS cut most of the refactoring out of the base product.

There will be some other options too. Not only will there be a professional version of Refactor! with many more refactorings, but jetbrain's Resharper 2.0 will support vb.net too. Stay tuned as I'm sure I will be reviewing both products in time, as hopefully we can sway management into purchasing some refactoring tools later this year.