Bill Gates today announced that Microsoft will provide students with free software development, software design, and server/database software. This project is called the dreamspark program, which currently covers the following countries: United States, the United Kingdom, Canada,China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. Note that China is also listed in the column.
Students can go to the dreamspark homepage to download software: https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com /. The following is the Software List
Development tools:
- Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
- Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
- XNa game studio 2.0
- 12-month academic membership of the xNa creators Club
Design tools:
- Expression Web
- Expression Blend
- Expression Design
- Expression Media
Server/database:
- SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
- Windows Server, Standard Edition