The first release is compatible with Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008. The main benefit is that one does not have to switch between Visual Studio and Skype (Chat) all the time when developing an application and chatting at the same time. Please note that chatting could also be project related which would make sense in my opinion.

This would provide an excellent way to copy and paste code comfortably to another user who is working on the same project. Selected code can be send to another use with the Send button of the add-in.

The developer is providing two versions of the Skype add-in, one for Visual Studio 2005 and the other for the 2008 version of Visual Studio. Windows XP users install the software by double-clicking the StudioSkype.msi executable while Windows Vista users have to right-click setup.exe and select to run the file as an administrator.

The new window is available in the View > Other Window > Skype menu in Visual Studio.

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If you are you can grab free Microsoft software including Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and several more. All you need is a Live ID (which is free as well) and a way to identify yourself as being a student in one of those countries.

The real beauty of this system is that you do not need to study Computer Science to be eligible for those free full version downloads of Microsoft software, they are available for everyone. Here is a list of all Microsoft tools currently available:

• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
• SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
• Expression Studio
• XNA Game Studio 2.0
• XNA Creators Club Online
• Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
• Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
• Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
• Visual Web 2005 Express Edition
• Visual J++ 2005 Express Edition
• SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
• Microsoft Virtual PC

Impressive List, ain’t it ? The process is as simple as it could be. You pick a software product from Microsoft first, then log into your Windows Live account, pick your continent from the world map, pick your country and finally your University from a list of available ones.

Not all Universities are listed in that menu, if yours is not in the list you need to check this page to see what you can do about it. A method for all countries is to use ISIC to identify yourself which is available as an option amongst all listed Universities.

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Not everyone can just walk in though and grab the copies, you need to register to be able to attend an event and even then kits will only be given out as long as supplies last. Events will also take place in other countries. A quick check revealed one event in Germany where attendees have to pay a fee to be able to attend the event. They still get the software kit with the newest versions of the applications though.

You have to give a company name and job title during registration. It is unclear if Microsoft will reject applications if they do not meet certain criteria. The first event is on February 27th in Los Angeles, the last on May 22nd in Reston.

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