Microsoft Goodwill
In an article at the Reg Developer (Microsoft extends Visual Studio handout program) Gavin Clarke reports that Microsoft has decided that the express versions of both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL 2005 will not cost anything. Initially, the plan was to offer them for free to get people interested and then to start charging for them.
To me, this is a good thing and will help generate more interest in Microsoft's programming languages. There is a steep price to pay to get legitimate copies of Visual Studio and many who may wish to give it ago don't have access to it via a corporate job. As more people give it a try they will find out how good Microsoft .NET technologies are.
Personally, I plan to get a copy for my ten year old son and his friend. This summer I am starting him on the path to programming/networking/hardware excellence. He doesn't have a sports interest, but his ability with computers has impressed me... I can't wait to see how he does.
To me, this is a good thing and will help generate more interest in Microsoft's programming languages. There is a steep price to pay to get legitimate copies of Visual Studio and many who may wish to give it ago don't have access to it via a corporate job. As more people give it a try they will find out how good Microsoft .NET technologies are.
Personally, I plan to get a copy for my ten year old son and his friend. This summer I am starting him on the path to programming/networking/hardware excellence. He doesn't have a sports interest, but his ability with computers has impressed me... I can't wait to see how he does.
posted by WWWGeek at
4/20/2006 02:59:00 PM
