[AccessD] Where Can I Get a "Cheap" Copy of Visual Studio .NET?

John W. Colby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Fri Dec 17 21:07:44 CST 2004


If you are a student (or a teacher if I'm not mistaken) at a school you can
get a student edition for about $99.  That's what I did - you just have to
fax your student ID to the store you buy from.  

The deal then is that the license says you cannot develop professionally
using that copy, which really shouldn't be an issue since once you start
earning money for using .net you can then afford to buy it.  AFAICT the
student edition is the whole enchilada with a limited license.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com 

Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause:
http://folding.stanford.edu/

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Lawhon, Alan C
Contractor/Morgan Research
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 11:39 AM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: [AccessD] Where Can I Get a "Cheap" Copy of Visual Studio .NET?


I have recently bought a copy of Rick Dobson's book: "Programming Microsoft
Visual Basic .NET for Microsoft Access Databases".  Rick's book looks like a
treasure trove full of valuable information that will help us "web enable"
an environmental database application here at work.

In the "Introduction" (page "xx") under "System Requirements," Rick states
that you need a copy of "Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Version 2002"
installed on your machine in order to run the sample code from the book.
(Rick used the "Enterprise Developer" edition, but he says that the
"Professional" edition will also work.)  I would like to obtain a
(relatively inexpensive) copy - if possible - of Visual Studio, install it
on my home computer, and start "playing around" with VB.NET - and working my
way thru the examples in Rick's book.

Since I am not a "professional" developer, I don't have an MSDN
subscription, so I can't get a "free copy" of Visual Studio [from Microsoft]
via that route.  I've been to Amazon.com's web site (where I buy all my
books).  I can get a fresh [brand new] copy of "Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
2003 Professional Special Edition" for $699.00 - which is kind of steep for
me ...  (In fact, there's NO WAY I'm going to pay $700.00 out of my own
pocket for a piece of software that I'll basically be using for training
purposes.)

I have heard that Microsoft passes out free copies of Visual Studio if you
can trick your customer into sending you to one of Microsoft's week-long
development seminars.  I have a feeling we won't be very successful with
that option either.  (Our customer got "burned" once before by a previous
crew of "developers" who hornswaggled their way into a bunch of very
expensive Oracle training.  After the training, they spruced up their
resumes and immediately left for jobs elsewhere with the result that our
customer received no return for their "training investment".  They are now
very wary about paying for any kind of "professional development" or IT
training.  We are basically expected to either already know what we need to
know, or pick it up on our own - which is no big problem for me.  My problem
is that I'm hoping there is some way I can obtain a (relatively inexpensive)
copy of "Visual Studio .NET Version 2002" for (maybe) a couple of hundred
bucks - $250.00 at most - if th! at is reasonable for a new "authentic"
unopened box.

I've run across some private sellers on the internet who are offering "used"
copies of Visual Studio at various prices, but I'm not sure I want to go
that route - mainly due to uncertainty about what I might actually be
getting - and questions about whether or not Microsoft will support my
purchase.  (I've always bought "full up" brand new copies of Microsoft
software just to avoid legal hassles.  I know ... that makes me a sap, but
I'll never be arrested by the FBI or carted off to prison for piracy, so it
all works out in the long run.)

If any of you have an idea or suggestion, I will be very grateful for your
advice.  I may go ahead and split for the $699.00 copy from Amazon.com, but
only as a last resort ...  (I'm looking for the cheapest "legal" copy of
Visual Studio that I can get.)

Alan C. Lawhon
   
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