Microsoft has posted Python Tools for Visual Studio, a free open source plug-in for VS 2010, to the Codeplex website.

Python Tools for Visual Studio provides Python (PTVS) programmers with a development experience inside of Visual Studio. It is a set of components that extends Visual Studio. It supports editing, debugging, creating Python projects, an interactive REPL window, profiling, and participating in VS solutions.

PTVS enables developers to use all the major productivity features of Visual Studio to build Python code using either CPython or IronPython and adds new features such as using High Performance Computing clusters to scale your code.

However PTVS is not a Python distribution; it works with your existing Python/IronPython installation to provide an integrated editing and debugging facility.

An integrated environment for developing Python in VS2010

• Advanced editing, Intellisense, browsing, "Find all", REPL, ...
• Supports CPython and IronPython
• Local & Cluster/remote debugging
• Profiling with multiple views
• Interactive parallel computing via integrated IPython REPL
• Support for HPC clusters and MPI, including debugging support
• NumPy & SciPy for .Net
• Support for Cloud Computing (soon)
• Support for Dryad (large scale, data-intensive parallel programming) (soon)
• Free & Open Source (Apache 2.0)

Go to Python Tools for Visual Studio site to download and for more information including detailed walk-thru guide.