Software for Students Giveaways

If you’re a student then you have it pretty good when it comes to high-end software packages. Most companies provide either a student/education version, heavy discounts or an express-type version. Sometimes there are minor restrictions  but in general these companies are pretty generous, even if only out of self interest.

For all our criticisms of Microsoft they have been pretty decent with the software they provide for free (Windows Live is a good example).

The Visual Basic Studio Express versions are good solid software packages and can be downloaded from here. These include Visual Basic 2008 Express, Visual C# 2008 Express, Visual C++ 2008 Express, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express and various resources and samples which are really useful. I don’t write C or C++ so for the standout here is the Visual Web Developer which is great.

Even better, if you’re a student, is the Dream Spark giveaway:

You’ll need to be attending a university then you’ll need to enter your student account number and password before being accepted, but most Universities around the world have signed up for this so I think you should be fine.

After being verified you can download all of these if you so desire:

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
A set of tools for web development (ASP.NET, AJAX), Windows, Office, SQL Server and devices running Windows Mobile.

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
If you need this, go for it =)

Microsoft Expression Studio
Expression Studio is Microsoft’s answer to Adobe’s products for designers and developers. I’m not sure how popular they are as I haven’t heard much about them. I’m still trying them out for myself.

• Expression Web
• Expression Blend
• Expression Design
• Expression Media

Xna Game Studio 2.0
Build games for Windows and Xbox 360 using .NET and custom managed code libraries. Includes support for Xbox and Window Live support for the creation of multiplayer games.