Relationship between VS2008, MSDN and SP1

[AlanCCC]

Hi,

I have a MSDN subscription account, and I notice there are several downloads for Visual Studio 2008, as follows:

(1) Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite (x86) - DVD (English)
(2) MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 (x86) - DVD (English)
(3) Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (x86, x64 WoW) - DVD (English)
(4) MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (x86, x64 WoW) - DVD (English)

I am a bit confused.

1. If I want to access the online documents, must I install (2) after install (1)? After I install (1) without installing (2), I find Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Documentation still exist, so why I still need to install (2) to access the online documentations?

2. Must I install (1) before install the service pack (3)? The service pack (3) seems not for a specific edition, such as Express edition, Professional Edition, Team Suite Edition, so I assume it will work for all the editions. Is that True?

3. Must I install (2) before install the service pack (4)?

Thanks

[ovidiucucu]

You can access on-line MSDN Library any time with no other prerequisites than: one computer, an internet connection and an internet browser.

The CDs/DVDs shipped with MSDN subscriptions (also available for free at Microsoft Dowload Center) are for locally installing of MSDN Library.

The usual installing order is: Visual Studio, SP, MSDN Library (although MSDN is not obviously the last one).

It's good to have the last MSDN which integrates with the given VS version.
One MSDN Library version does not require the previous ones.
MSDN Library can also be installed stand-alone and does not require Visual Studio 2008.