Visual 2005 Express for FREE

[kfitting]

Saw this earlier today... wouldn't mind hearing people's thoughts on it.

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=126606&SiteID=1

you can download the full ISO's here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/install/

Kevin

[crono]

I just installed Visual  C# Express. First of all: I love the Interface (GUI) - it looks a bit like Eclipse but "cleaner" in some way. Second: It's faster - compared to Visual Studio .NET 2003. I have to work with the dotNet Framework 2.0 in my final year project (diploma thesis) comming next year - so I appreciate that I have not to buy the "Full" Visual Studio 2005, which is a lot oversized for the project...

[Carol Haynes]

Just been downloading these 5 CD images.

The MS website says use Nero 6 to burn them. Unfortunately they are .IMG files and Nero doesn't support that extension. From reading around an MVP (sorry can't remember who now) pointed out the solution is to simply change the extension from .IMG to .ISO and then Nero can handle them. If you aren't sure how to do that then go to Control Panel > Folder View > View Tab and uncheck "Hide extensions for known filetypes" (12th line in Windows XP). You can then see the .IMG extension and change it.

Can't really understand why we need two extenstions to mean the same thing (at least in this case).

I gather Roxio has the same problem (the other recommended burner).

If any one wants to burn these and doesn't have suitable software DVD Decrypter can burn .IMG files and is a free download.

[crono]

If you dont want to burn the images, you can simply use DaemonTools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc) to mount the *.img - Images as "virtual CD Drives".  The installation will run from this virtual drive without problems

[Carol Haynes]

Very true - you can also use ISO Buster to extract them to a folder if you don't want virtual drives

If you ever want to install again in the future it may be worth burning them though, as they take up a fair chunk of disk space (about 2.2Gb) and they are big files to redownload (even with broadband).

[clif_notes]

Thank you all very much for this tip. I'll be naming names in the newsletter.
http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com/VisualStudioFree

At one time, I would have loved to use the VB tool. Since then, I've lost my desire to do much coding. I know you can teach an old dog new tricks, but this old dog won't get off the couch. 

[Carol Haynes]

Hey Clif - join the club ...

I bought an academic copy of Visual Studio 6 and manuals for it (all 2 foot of book shelf which has bent under the weight) a couple of years ago. Still to write my first program with it!!

I used to really enjoy programming (I used to teach it in Assembler, BASIC, Pascal and C !) but I find the learning curve in Windows software writing is too intimidating. There really hasn't been a project I fancy doing that I can face trying ...

I find the documentation (particularly MS's) really off putting - it is so full of acronyms (that are rarely defined) ... Windows API, COM class etc. that my eyes glaze on page 1. The other thing is I really HATE books (and software documentation) that start with a 'What's new ...' section or a jargon riddled ReadME file. I can't pull myself away from reading these, but by the time I have got through a page the book is thrown or the window closed ...

Oh well, I'm going to give Studio 2005 a bash as it is sparkly and new, free and seems to come with some idiot proof tutorials ...

[clif_notes]

Hi Carol,

You are so on the mark. I have had the same experiences. I taught myself the following. Basic (1977), 8086 assembler (1994), Pascal (1994), C (1996). The problem is that software and programming have left me in the dust. If I did it for a living or still had the burning desire to learn it, well, it'd be a different story.

I can still write programs in QuickBasic (antique DOS program), but I only use it to manipulate text files. I've found some cool text filters that do the same things. So now I don't even have much use for that. I can still write DOS batch files. Again, not much use for that now days. I occasionally have to dabble in UNIX scripts.

It's a lot easier for me to find what I need and tweak it, rather than make it. Maybe I'm just getting old. I don't know.