How you can tell the bolts are tightening
I tested the latest rev of the bag-o-tricks on Vista RC1 (which included the .NET Framework 3.0 RC1) with VS 2005 RTM.
I just did an install of .NET 3.0 September CTP + Orcas tools ("Cider") September CTP + VS 2005 SP1 Beta on my XP machine at home.
All of the samples still build and run fine. "Cider" and the VS beta seem to play along nicely, too.
Hurray for locking down!
(I'm pretty sure anyone can apply to be on the beta of VS 2005 SP1. Go to connect.microsoft.com. Click on Visual Studio and .NET Framework under Available Connections. Fill out the Nomination Survey. At least that's what I did. No promises you'll get in.)