VS Launch

[Tom Serface]

I attended the VS Launch in San Francisco yesterday. To be fair, the launch
was shared with SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk 2006, but I was mostly
interested in Visual Studio. Most of the special talks were centered around
using VS with SQL and BizTalk as expected, but I got a chance to talk to
lots of experts and I came away with a couple of impressions:

1. I can't wait to start using VS 2005 as a C++ programming. The
improvements to MFC and the IDE are worth the price of upgrade imo.
2. I think Team System looks very promising and I went from not really
understanding it to thinking I need to convice our company to invest in it.
3. Net 2.0 really looks incredibly promising. There have been tons of
improvements.
4. I don't think I'll invest time in WinForms. I think I'll just keep using
MFC and start investing in WPF (WinFX and eventually Windows Vista).

There were a lot of people there. Several people I talked to in lines
didn't even know why they were there, but just heard Microsoft was having a
party and wanted free-stuff. Others were very well informed and I had
several interesting conversations during the day. It was a long day and
after waiting for over 1/2 an hour in line to get a few bites of cheese we
decided we'd call it a day and left before the big party last evening.

One really exciting piece of You can download and use Visual Studio
Express for C#, VB, J#, or C++ for a year absolutely free. This is a great
way to get a look at the new IDE, etc.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/default.aspx

You can also get SQL 2005 Express for the same, um, price, although there
doesn't seem to be a time limit on that one. My hats off to Micrsoft for
helping younger people, those with lower financial ability, and college
students to get copies of this valuable software for free. Good stuff.

Tom

 

[Nishant Sivakumar]

I think it's awesome of Microsoft to give the Express editions for free -
it'll help a lot of students who can't afford the professional editions.

 

[Tom Serface]

I think so too and I also think it is a gutsy move. They've tried giving
way (almost) down level versions, but that always seemed cheesy to me. I
think making this move is going to really help encourage students of all
ages to try the products and hopefully they learn lifelong skills ... from a
marketing perspective they will eventually be the cause of a sale no doubt.

Tom

 

[Peter Oliphant]

Sounds like a worthwhile seminar to go to... : )

In regards to the 'free' copy of VS.NET Express, I'd like to point out the
following quote from their FAQ page:

" 11. You said "free for one year" - what does that mean, exactly? Will you
be charging for this later?
We originally announced pricing of Visual Studio Express at US$49. We are
now offering Visual Studio Express for free, as a limited-in-time
promotional offer, until November 6, 2006. Note that we are also offering
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a free download, and that this offer is
not limited to the same promotional pricing period as Visual Studio
Express."

Now, how does the above at all answer the question "Will you be charging for
this later?". That is, what EXACTLY happens on Nov 6, 2006? Does it stop
working? Does it require an upgrade? Does it require purchasing a license? I
get a bit 'annoyed' by FAQ's that present a question I'm interested in and
then don't answer it...! (hehe)

[==P==]

 

[brengarne]

If you Download and regiser your version before Nov 6 2006 then you
legally own a licenced product and dont need to pay (except if you
choose to upgrade later).

They put a clarification of this on a FAQ somewhere but I cant remember
where I saw it.


Also interesting to note is that you can download the PSDK for VC++
Express and with a few config changes all the MFC features come alive,
so there is very little functional difference betwene this and the paid
version (mostly just fluff)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/usingpsdk/default.aspx

 

[Tom Serface]

Correct. The goal is to get it out there. I think they put the time limit
so they can revisit how this works and change it if they want. I wouldn't
be surprised if the time limit got extended, but you never know. Better to
download now rather that test that theory.

Tom