Visual Studio for FREE!?
by Lexica-chan » Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:46 pm
(Hmm. Gonna just throw this out there for any mod to pick up.... should there exist some thread, in which big and potentially productive software can be consolidated in one place? I mean, this will only be my second, but this one will be a bit more persistent than the last....)
So, for any of the software developers out there in the audience, this one will interest you. Visual Studio. Useful for compiling plugins for your favorite extensible programs (Virtualdub, foobar2000, and Avisynth plugins are all compiled using this, among other toys). And if you've got that idea kicking around in your head to create something, you're likely gonna wanna look to these tools to get the job done.
First off, for everyone: there's actually Express Editions of Visual Studio (both 2005 and 2008) available straight from Microsoft. Check out for these. The immediate links on that page get you the 2008 version, but on the bar near the top is "Previous Version". That's how you get the 2005 set.
Now, for those folks in university (the info I've read also suggests that high school students might be able to make use of this), there's ways to get Visual Studio 2005/2008 Professional without actually paying money (and I don't mean in any illegal sense
). The first, if your school is part of the MSDN Academic Alliance, see if you can ask around to get an account to that. If you can get one, you should also be able to get a website to which you can get your hands on a number of goodies, including Visual Studio, installs of Windows XP and Vista, and several other goodies not necessarily developer-related. But hey, it's free stuff, so not so bad. 
An alternative to this is to look up Microsoft Dreamspark (). The first sentence from the Wikipedia page pretty much sums it up:
[quote=Wikipedia]DreamSpark is a program set up by Microsoft to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge.[/quote]
I'm giving this latter one a shot (though I also have access through the MSDNAA, and I know that one works). The selection of software at Dreamspark is smaller, but it still has Visual Studio Pro, so if that's what you're aiming for, this is a second means of doing so. The login process is a lil goofy, though... you need both a Windows Live ID (if you got a Hotmail account, that will suffice), and then you need some means of demonstrating your student-ness in an online fashion (for me, this was a login procedure, not unlike how I check for my own e-mail).
I also don't know how well this works for international folks. I saw lists for both schooling institutions in the US and Canada, but since the first thing was "select continent", the implication is that there's more. Feedback on this one?
*^_^*
So, for any of the software developers out there in the audience, this one will interest you. Visual Studio. Useful for compiling plugins for your favorite extensible programs (Virtualdub, foobar2000, and Avisynth plugins are all compiled using this, among other toys). And if you've got that idea kicking around in your head to create something, you're likely gonna wanna look to these tools to get the job done.
First off, for everyone: there's actually Express Editions of Visual Studio (both 2005 and 2008) available straight from Microsoft. Check out for these. The immediate links on that page get you the 2008 version, but on the bar near the top is "Previous Version". That's how you get the 2005 set.
Now, for those folks in university (the info I've read also suggests that high school students might be able to make use of this), there's ways to get Visual Studio 2005/2008 Professional without actually paying money (and I don't mean in any illegal sense
). The first, if your school is part of the MSDN Academic Alliance, see if you can ask around to get an account to that. If you can get one, you should also be able to get a website to which you can get your hands on a number of goodies, including Visual Studio, installs of Windows XP and Vista, and several other goodies not necessarily developer-related. But hey, it's free stuff, so not so bad.
An alternative to this is to look up Microsoft Dreamspark (). The first sentence from the Wikipedia page pretty much sums it up:
[quote=Wikipedia]DreamSpark is a program set up by Microsoft to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge.[/quote]
I'm giving this latter one a shot (though I also have access through the MSDNAA, and I know that one works). The selection of software at Dreamspark is smaller, but it still has Visual Studio Pro, so if that's what you're aiming for, this is a second means of doing so. The login process is a lil goofy, though... you need both a Windows Live ID (if you got a Hotmail account, that will suffice), and then you need some means of demonstrating your student-ness in an online fashion (for me, this was a login procedure, not unlike how I check for my own e-mail).
I also don't know how well this works for international folks. I saw lists for both schooling institutions in the US and Canada, but since the first thing was "select continent", the implication is that there's more. Feedback on this one?
*^_^*
"In the beginning there was darkness and void. And then
The Encoder said 'BlankClip(color=$FFFFFF)' and there was
light. The Encoder looked upon the light and saw that it
was good, for it was RGB32."
(although there has been some debate over the Encoder's
choice of container, since Life doesn't support any form
of rewinding.)
--The Darkhold Accord
The Encoder said 'BlankClip(color=$FFFFFF)' and there was
light. The Encoder looked upon the light and saw that it
was good, for it was RGB32."
(although there has been some debate over the Encoder's
choice of container, since Life doesn't support any form
of rewinding.)
--The Darkhold Accord
- Lexica-chan
- Da Mermaid
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