I ran across this link today (by accident, actually):
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb510103.aspx

Microsoft is opening up to VSIP partners the Visual Studio 2008 Shell, something the SQL Server 2005 Management Studio has taken advantage of for a while (with Visual Studio 2005’s shell). The part I found most interesting is this:

Q: How much will the Visual Studio Shell cost?
The Visual Studio Shell will be freely available as part of the Visual Studio SDK starting with the release of Visual Studio 2008. Building and deploying applications based on the Visual Studio Shell will be royalty-free.

A completely free, proven application shell. That’s nothing but good. Any company offering any sort of “designer” (such as the example in the image) could leverage this shell for a relatively quick time-to-market application that “grandfathers in” all of the usability features the Visual Studio team has gathered and implemented over the years.

Microsoft is also offering an “integrated” mode (what I just mentioned would fall in the “isolated” mode). Integrated mode means that your shell components will integrate into Visual Studio 2008 itself.

Here are the key benefits as Microsoft sees them (from the linked page):

• Faster Development. The Visual Studio Shell accelerates development by providing a base integrated development environment that can host custom tools and programming languages.
• A Familiar Environment. Developers can build on the Visual Studio platform and provide end users a familiar user interface, speeding the learning curve for both.
• Optimized for Languages & Tools. Created in response to requests from our partners, the Visual Studio Shell gives you the option of integrating your tools with Visual Studio or creating an isolated, custom-branded application.