Microsoft giving away Visual Studio 2005

[project_x]

Not exactly, but close. I was doing some reading on the Microsoft.com site and came across the "SPARK your imagination" page.

Basically, if your buy the embedded platform from one of the 5 or 6 qualifying vendors, Microsoft will give you a full copy of Visual Studio 2005 Professional, Windows CE, and Windows CE embedded Platform builder for non-commercial use.

Here is an example:
SPARK, the hardware goes for as little as $195.


though some of you might be interested.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[electron]

Cool find, thanks!

 

[damage]

also, if you or someone you know is in high school or college, you can get free software via the microsoft dreamspark program:

https://www.dreamspark.com/Products/ProductList.aspx
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/StudentOverview.aspx

my wife is taking a class at a local junior college and got verified and so far, "we've" gotten server 2008, server 2003 & vs 2005 pro free

 

[ysualum]

also, if you or someone you know is in high school or college, you can get free software via the microsoft dreamspark program:

https://www.dreamspark.com/Products/ProductList.aspx
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/StudentOverview.aspx

my wife is taking a class at a local junior college and got verified and so far, "we've" gotten server 2008, server 2003 & vs 2005 pro free

Thanks for the link. I just downloaded all 3 as well. This forum has finally saved me some money instead of making me spend it.

 

[electron]

Wow that's pretty cool! How does it verify? Do you need a .edu address?

 

[drozwood90]

Good question Dan!

 

[damage]

there's info in the FAQ
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/UniversityStudentFaq.aspx
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/HighSchoolStudentFaq.aspx

since my wife's JC wasn't listed, all we had to do was fax in a copy of her student ID to some company that was handling verifying unlisted schools. it doesn't look like they allow that anymore.

 

[mustangcoupe]

https://www.dreamspark.com/wayf/StudentOption.aspx

Looks like you still can through JournyEd

 

[damage]

https://www.dreamspark.com/wayf/StudentOption.aspx

Looks like you still can through JournyEd

that's it. i was in the middle of a workout so i didn't look hard enough

more specifically,

Acceptable Forms of Academic Proof:
(Any one of the following)

* Dated Student ID Card
* Dated Faculty ID Card
* Dated, current class schedule
* Letter from school on school letterhead
* Recent faculty/staff payment stub (please black out salary information)
* Proof of affiliation with the U.S. Air Force or DoD affiliation, as listed above.

and you can email, fax or snail mail it in.

in any case, depending on how cheap your local junior college is, it may be worth it just to register for a class just to get the free downloads

 

[felixrosbergen]

Why woudl they give away free Win2k3 server lincenses to students? Unless they're information technology students.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Why woudl they give away free Win2k3 server lincenses to students? Unless they're information technology students.

High school students even......

 

[damage]

Why woudl they give away free Win2k3 server lincenses to students? Unless they're information technology students.

High school students even......

maybe this is how they restrict it to those with technical interests without explicitly saying that (or inspire them to become more technical by make them figure out how to set up the server OS)? if they gave out xp pro, tons of people would register and download it.

 

[Sokoloff]

There's also the "Express" program, with free development tools:
http://www.microsoft.com/Express/

I use the real thing at work, but the Express editions at home. Honestly, Express covers everything that a hobbyist type would need. To the point that I can't even remember what the limits of the express edition are, as they're largely irrelevant. (Wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't use Express commercially or something, though.)

 

[mustangcoupe]

There's also the "Express" program, with free development tools:
http://www.microsoft.com/Express/

I use the real thing at work, but the Express editions at home. Honestly, Express covers everything that a hobbyist type would need. To the point that I can't even remember what the limits of the express edition are, as they're largely irrelevant. (Wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't use Express commercially or something, though.)

I have the express edition but can not use the mobile dev tools for a ppc on the express version