Free Microsoft Commercial Developer Tools

[PhilB66]

Microsoft gives away free developer software to students

[attach]

[f0dder]

Is that with the usual clause they tend to use? Ie, no commercial projects, your license is revoked when you're no longer a student, etc.?

The Express Editions aren't super-handicapped, by the way, and iirc their licenses are pretty liberal. (And are for anybody, not just students).

[arunpawar]

another move agains open source.they are doing this like google did on google summer of code and otehr google contests.

its all to get more developers cause MS is loosing developers on the fly.even if MS web technologies are used in industry it is not used with individuals and some other open source evagilist.and they are very strict with licesne so if u are last year student then you won't able to upgrade for free.or maybe they have non commercial app restriction usage.

good move but very late.
Ruby on rails.PHP,Google Mashup,J2EE,Spring,Hibernate,AJAX,XUL is all we need cause it is free.even if industry force MS technlogy usage but some hosting companies and individual will continue to save with open source.

[Carol Haynes]

Is that with the usual clause they tend to use? Ie, no commercial projects, your license is revoked when you're no longer a student, etc.?

The Express Editions aren't super-handicapped, by the way, and iirc their licenses are pretty liberal. (And are for anybody, not just students).

Seems to be personal/non-commercial but I couldn't see anything in the T&Cs that says the license dies with your student status.

MS have never done that in the past with academic discounted software (eg. Windows XP or Office XP/2003).

Some companies have done that but Adobe and MS aren't (IME) among them.

By the way for students in the EU not all establishments are listed but you can still register by getting an ISIC (International Student Identity Card) and choosing ISIC from the dropdown menu of establishments. OK it is a pain (costs £9 to get a card) but probably worth it if you want to learn Visual Studio 2005 or 2008 Pro or use Windows 2003 Server Standard Ed (yes please - that is going to be very useful to me at the mo).

Also as far as I can tell it isn't limited to one product either.

[f0dder]

Seems to be personal/non-commercial but I couldn't see anything in the T&Cs that says the license dies with your student status.

MS have never done that in the past with academic discounted software (eg. Windows XP or Office XP/2003).

I'm pretty sure they have done with with both Visual Studio and Office2000, at least in .dk.

[Renegade]

good move but very late.
Ruby on rails.PHP,Google Mashup,J2EE,Spring,Hibernate,AJAX,XUL is all we need cause it is free.even if industry force MS technlogy usage but some hosting companies and individual will continue to save with open source.

Hmmm...

I'm going to have to disagree there... Free is usually not the answer.

I work with:

* Closed source commercial software
* Open source software (FOSS)
* Open source commercial software

I find that it is cheaper to work with commercial software most often. In general I find that FOSS software lacks documentation needed to use it quickly and effectively. The development time spent getting up to speed with some FOSS can cost more than just purchasing a commercial component where you get the docs needed to start using it right away.

Not always true, but very often I find that's the case.

If I were a student, I'd go for MS tools like that in a heartbeat.

As for the MS "attack" on OS, I think they "get it" now, and I believe that they will succeed for the most part.

[Carol Haynes]

Seems to be personal/non-commercial but I couldn't see anything in the T&Cs that says the license dies with your student status.

MS have never done that in the past with academic discounted software (eg. Windows XP or Office XP/2003).

I'm pretty sure they have done with with both Visual Studio and Office2000, at least in .dk.

I have bought numerous academic discounted MS products (Windows XP Pro, Office XP and 2003 and Visual Studio 6) and none have had a 'death on graduation' condition - or if they do it isn't enforced in any way. (Thats UK though)

[Lashiec]

Mmm, I wonder what's the use of this if college students already have MSDNAA, with quite more software available free of charge, even Windows Vista and Server.

[Cuffy]

"members of their respective computer science or math departments. To ensure qualified students have access to the programs, Microsoft is working with university departments, governments and student organizations. Integrated directly into the service, students will be asked annually to verify their continued eligibility."

from:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_to_give_students_free_pro_development_tools/1203522040

[Carol Haynes]

Just to clarify: that quote is for software supplied to students under institution license scheme, not the free student giveaway scheme.

AIUI even then the license the ex-student is using doesn't die, it is just that your are outside licensing terms if you continue to use the product.

Some other companies supply software to students with expiring licenses so that the software actually becomes unusable without revalidation and a new license code.

[Renegade]

MS is pretty good with their licensing. If you haven't heard of them, check out the Empower Program or the Action Pack. Both very good deals.

[f0dder]

Some other companies supply software to students with expiring licenses so that the software actually becomes unusable without revalidation and a new license code.

That wasn't what I meant - just that your (legal) license to use the products are terminated when you're no longer a student. I recall having talking about this issue with Jibz (for older Office and Visual Studio), and I'm pretty sure he pointed out part of the license that said your license was terminated when you're no longer a student.

[exold]

Microsoft gives away free developer software to students
(see attachment in previous post)

Note also that there's still a month or so left on their Office-2007-Ultimate-for-$59.95 student deal. Frankly, if you need more than one of these applications, it's probably saving money if you sign up for a couple courses at your local community college. I'm fortunate enough to already be taking classes anyway  .