Microsoft will officially release the Enterprise Library, a reworked and integrated combination of a number of Application Blocks, on January 28. Enterprise Library (a.k.a. EntLib) will contain the Application Blocks for Data Access, Exception Handling, Caching, Configuration, Logging & Instrumentation, Security and Cryptography. Later releases will probably include other Application Blocks as well, for instance the User Interface Process Application Block (currently at version 2).
The great thing about EntLib is not just that these convenient Application Blocks come in a single download, but also that they are integrated better and that they all use a provider model for extensibility. Operators and developers can configure the library using an MMC-based GUI, and you can add your own blocks and MMC modules.
New projects will definitely benefit enormously from using EntLib, shortening development cycles with the pre-built, pre-tested, highly configurable library. Eight more days...