Juozas devBlog

I’m not fan of Microsoft, but I’m not hater too. I stand in neutral position – I use Linux in my computer, but sometimes I use Windows for Photoshop, I’m programming using NetBeans, but sometimes I do it in Visual Studio (I’m preparing for C# and ASP.NET work).

When I started programming in C# some months ago, I chose Express edition tool-kit, because it’s free and quite lightweight. But absolutely accidentally I ran into Microsoft DreamSpark program. They introduce it by:

DreamSpark is simple, it’s all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology – or just get a head start on your career.

At no charge? Yes, that’s right – all students can download various developer tools for free. List includes:

• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Standard
• SQL Server 2008 Developer
• Expression Studio 2
• and more

I don’t know how student verification works in other universities, but my university  (The University of Edinburgh) has special login system which works as authentication gateway. Somehow Microsoft arranged it and I verified myself by using that system – process similar to using OpenID. Process took only some minutes and downloads where going.

It used to be that Microsoft programming languages were criticized because they where only available to use with IDE’s which cost a lot. And for starters, high-school or university students it was almost impossible to start programming in for example C#. They are not cheap now too, but now everyone can use Express versions and students can even get profession-level tools.

Isn’t it great? It may sound as Microsoft advertisement, but as student I really like this initiative. I’m not going to start using Windows again because of that, but the fact that Microsoft is thinking about students as a potential Microsoft technologies users and investing in them is really great.