Can I use EF5 and stay with Visual Studio 2010 for the moment?

Question

I would like to use the latest Entity Framework (EF5), but not like to buy a new Version of Visual Studio yet.

Would it be possible to use EF5 with VS2010? And with what restrictions, if any?

Notes:

• I have read on Brice's Blog that EF5 can be used with .NET 4.0. Is this the way to go for me?
• This question is somewhat related, but I am not requiring a .NET Version, but a EF Version (which may in turn require a specific .NET version however).
• This question is very similar, again if focuses more on the .NET version, not on VS Version.

Answer 1

You are able to use EF5 with VS2010.

EF5 can be used against .NET 4.0 and .NET 4.5 applications.

as per this blog post on the EF Team Blog:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adonet/archive/2012/08/15/ef5-released.aspx

This version of the NuGet package is fully compatible with Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2012 and can be used for applications targeting .NET 4.0 and 4.5.

Some features are only available when writing an application that targets .NET 4.5. This includes enum support, spatial data types, table-valued functions and the performance improvements.

The restrictions are around the target .NET version of your application, not visual studio itself.