Buying Visual Studio
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
After many *many* years of buying the msdn universal subscription, Microsoft changed it all for the stupid team system and forced us to take a good look at it and we determined that from a purely logical point of view it's cheapest to just buy individual licenses for what we needed. You can easily make the decision with a calculator and a bit of time, but for us it made no sense to subscribe to the current equivalent of the universal subscription. We buy VS pro on it's own and any software / os licenses we require. Of course it helps that nothing new really is coming down the pipeline with the single exception of vs 2008 which I've yet to find a compelling reason to upgrade to.
When everyone is a hero no one is a hero.
-
Yeah, MSDN seems more interesting. Is it only for one developer? I mean is there some sort of volume licensing of MSDN? Can't find it on the web...
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
Bittorent is the way to go. The most ecomomical of all...
-
After many *many* years of buying the msdn universal subscription, Microsoft changed it all for the stupid team system and forced us to take a good look at it and we determined that from a purely logical point of view it's cheapest to just buy individual licenses for what we needed. You can easily make the decision with a calculator and a bit of time, but for us it made no sense to subscribe to the current equivalent of the universal subscription. We buy VS pro on it's own and any software / os licenses we require. Of course it helps that nothing new really is coming down the pipeline with the single exception of vs 2008 which I've yet to find a compelling reason to upgrade to.
When everyone is a hero no one is a hero.
...VS2005. Enough said, really. :rolleyes:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
Try C#.NET Express 2008 first! it's FREE!
-
Bittorent is the way to go. The most ecomomical of all...
BitTorrent ? How quaint... But then he asked about buying, so I guess IF your'e buying, XCode might be the right answer...:cool:
I=I.am()?Code(I):0/0;
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
I totally agree with jason@ajax.hk : Try Visual Studio Express, it's free and good
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
You can also try SharpDevelop. It doesn't have all the abilities of VS, but it's open source.
-
Bittorent is the way to go. The most ecomomical of all...
-
You can also try SharpDevelop. It doesn't have all the abilities of VS, but it's open source.
pavloskatsonis wrote:
You can also try SharpDevelop. It doesn't have all the abilities of VS, but it's open source.
That's useless for any serious purpose. I tried to do my school assignments with it, but it was a PITA. It doesn't even have a watch window, for god's sake! Ended up downloading the Express version from MS, which is great for that kind of tasks. But you'll need much more than that for a real comercial application.
-
pavloskatsonis wrote:
You can also try SharpDevelop. It doesn't have all the abilities of VS, but it's open source.
That's useless for any serious purpose. I tried to do my school assignments with it, but it was a PITA. It doesn't even have a watch window, for god's sake! Ended up downloading the Express version from MS, which is great for that kind of tasks. But you'll need much more than that for a real comercial application.
I had no problem developing real commercial applications.
-
Or go to the rollout, maybe get a free copy. (Not sure what they're giving away [if anything], but that's how I got VS 2005 and SQL Server 2005.)
It doesn't seem like Microsoft is launching and giving away copies like they did with Microsoft Office. I went to a DevCares event which was hosted by Microsoft and I was able to get a free copy of VS.NET2008 Pro
Regards, Thomas Stockwell Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. Visit my homepage Oracle Studios[^]
-
I think the MSDN solution that best fits your needs it probably the best idea. I believe Visual Studio is still available as a separate purchase but I don't think I will ever buy it separately again.
Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest HemingwayMSDN is worthless and over-priced (hey look! a conundrum!). All you need is VS2008 Standard because there's more (and better) help available on the web than they will ever put on the MSDN CDs. I didn't even bother installing the on-disc help with VS2005 because pressing F1 never found anything on the disc. So, save your money and just buy the appropriate version of VS2008...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
In reading through this thread, there are some choices for you to make. The comments on downloading and using the Express versions of Visual Studio are very good, as I have done that in the past. These versions are very useful, but they do lack some features. The other comments about buying the educational versions are wrong in that only teachers and students can buy them. If you go to the Academic Superstore, you can fill out some forms if you have children in school and get the Academic versions of Visual Studio. It is perfectly legal to buy these versions if you have children in school. They plainly outline the conditions and I have a boy in first grade that allowed me to buy VS 2005 Pro. I would always go for the Pro version of VS because you never know when you might need to do some C/C++ or some Visual Basic. Only the Pro version has all the tools you really need except the Team Center, which allows distributed developers to collaborate on a project together. But that's in a different ballgame altogether. My advice: Download the Express versions first and try them on your project. If they don't provide everything you need, then fill out the forms and get the Academic versions of the Pro level of VS. They have VS 2008 Pro now and it doesn't cost that much. Your codebase from trying the Express version should still work project wise under the Academic Pro, so no reinventing there.
-
In reading through this thread, there are some choices for you to make. The comments on downloading and using the Express versions of Visual Studio are very good, as I have done that in the past. These versions are very useful, but they do lack some features. The other comments about buying the educational versions are wrong in that only teachers and students can buy them. If you go to the Academic Superstore, you can fill out some forms if you have children in school and get the Academic versions of Visual Studio. It is perfectly legal to buy these versions if you have children in school. They plainly outline the conditions and I have a boy in first grade that allowed me to buy VS 2005 Pro. I would always go for the Pro version of VS because you never know when you might need to do some C/C++ or some Visual Basic. Only the Pro version has all the tools you really need except the Team Center, which allows distributed developers to collaborate on a project together. But that's in a different ballgame altogether. My advice: Download the Express versions first and try them on your project. If they don't provide everything you need, then fill out the forms and get the Academic versions of the Pro level of VS. They have VS 2008 Pro now and it doesn't cost that much. Your codebase from trying the Express version should still work project wise under the Academic Pro, so no reinventing there.
patstevenson wrote:
but they do lack some features
I think you meant to say that they lack *useful* features.
patstevenson wrote:
Only the Pro version has all the tools you really need
The Standard version is almost as complete (I think it lacks some SQL Server related stuff), but other than that, it has C++/MFC and VB (if you choose to shoulder that particular burden).
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
If you're a consultant, reseller, VAR, etc., you can join the Microsoft Partner Program and get it with the Microsoft Action Pack[^]. It's amazing what you get for the $300.00 per year price. Joining the Parter program is pretty easy, but you do have to qualify as a partner. And to get Visual Studio, you have to pass a web development proficiency test. It's pretty easy if you know what you're doing.
-
Or go to the rollout, maybe get a free copy. (Not sure what they're giving away [if anything], but that's how I got VS 2005 and SQL Server 2005.)
Ae.NET user group previews, they gave out free copies of VS Pro. apparently, they are going to do the same thing at the launch events.
David Veeneman www.veeneman.com
-
I think the MSDN solution that best fits your needs it probably the best idea. I believe Visual Studio is still available as a separate purchase but I don't think I will ever buy it separately again.
Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest HemingwayA few months back Microsoft had some online classes - once completed I was able to get VS2005 Standard for the cost of shipping. ($10 I think.) Even had I not been able to get it for free like that, the Standard Edition price is really reasonable, IMHO. It was about $150 on Programmer's Paradise around that same time; not sure what the price is now. That's a lot of programming "bang" for the buck. -CB :)
-
Bittorent is the way to go. The most ecomomical of all...
We have a small project for which we are contracting 3 developers for 3-6 months. Like others in this thread, we did the math on the getting VS Team edition and it just doesn't add up. So, we're doing free editions for most things and "delegating" the Team-only tasks to the developers that have a license to Team edition. This raised the question internally of whether we could rent the software on a short-term basis. No doubt the new licensing scheme will cause MS to loose their percentage of legitimately paying customers who now "share" licenses. We are now spending more time to reconsider why we even need Team edition for the few that have it. Code profiling, unit testing, code analysis, and other team-only features can generally be replaced with much better, cheaper (or even free) options. OK, and then there's the soap box of why they heck MS is differentiating Software Developer, Architect, Tester and Database editions! What about the _most of us_ that are in two or more of these categories!?!? Very frustrating ... but it also presents a good time to reflect on how to cut back on our MS licensing. ;)
-
Hi There!.. How do you buy Visual Studio? I just arrived in a new company which is not really Microsoft Minded but it looks like we are going to use Visual Studio, as there is a C# movement growing up in the company. I looked at the various option to buy VS2008 and the MSDN looks quite expensive and it's per developer as well. What option is best value for money? I was thiking of buying the standart version, which seems reasonable. There is also the empower partner program that might be interesting. How do you do in your company?
I would suggest standard edition if your budget is tight, it has more than enough tools to get do the job. I have used Team Developer, VS2005 Pro, and standard. If you have the money get Pro it has some extra tool that are nice. I think Team server is overkill unless you are a big IT shop with lots of projects. The free express versions are very good for starters. The MSDN license is expensive, but you get access to all of MS's software to test and develop with.
Jay Springfield, IL