The changes that give me the most productivity are the simplest ones. For example, while viewing the split panes with both design and XAML shown I can type XAML and intellisense helps me complete my thoughts. Blend 2 basically had a colorful notepad for XAML editing. This is huge because sometimes I know what I want to do but I am not sure how to do i tin the designer. For example, I wanted to add a DataTemplate recently to a ListBox, but I could not remember the XAML node name and hierarchy to get there. With Blend 3 a quick hit of CTRL-SPACE shows me the valid XAML nodes that are relevant in the context as a child of . It also has intellisense for properties/attributes as well as autocomplete for values where enumerators exist. It is all basic intellisense, yes, but now I do not have to flip over the Visual Studio just to get that feature. It was annoying having to keep the XAML open in Blend and Visual Studio, and less productive overall.

Blend 3 has a bunch of other supported features, related to Silverlight 3 as well. I love the effects ... it comes with Blur and Shadows. These effects can be achieved through much more effort in Silverlight 2, but in v3 the tools make it simple to add an effect. Storyboards are easy to follow and to create animations, the Visual State Manager makes creates visual states (mouseover, click, etc) straightforward, and the best feature of all is one that has been around with Blend 2, too: the ability to search for a property in the property window. This is great since often I can't remember where the property is in the property window. :)

Blend 3 also adds in a feature that allows you to add sample data to a project. No more guessing at what the view will look like with data in it in design mode. Create some sample data, drag it to the control and bind it design time and poof! You have a much clearer picture of your UI.

While Blend 2 (with SP 1 so it works well with Silverlight 2) is really great, Blend 3 and its little things have made me even more productive.