Did a search and didn't see that anyone posted on this. Thought I'd share this with you people.

Get free Visual Studio Express Editions from Microsoft.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
Visual J# 2005 Express Edition

Here's the link to the F.A.Q. on these editions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/
We originally announced pricing of Visual Studio Express at US$49. We are now offering Visual Studio Express for free, as a limited-in-time promotional offer, until November 6, 2006. Note that we are also offering SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a free download, and that this offer is not limited to the same promotional pricing period as Visual Studio Express.

MODS, if anyone has already posted on this, please feel free to delete this thread!

http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=97674
doesn't matter. the more who see it, the better :)

http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=97674
doesn't matter. the more who see it, the better :)

We live close! I am about 45 minutes west of you :)

Guess it's time for me to move :p

Guess it's time for me to move :p
Don't worry, I dont stalk people, often anyway :D

Cosmos:

This looks really fantastic...it's supposed to replace MSDE. It SEEMS that it can have many users connected at once (I'm hoping that it will work easily with over 50 connected over the internet, unlike Access). The FAQ page DOES say something about 1 CPU, but that (from my reading) describes how many processors are on the server, not how many users are connected at once.

The reason this may be useful to me is because I'm looking for a database that will outperform Access so it can be used over the internet, and by more than 50 users. SQL Server Enterprise is just too costly for many organizations and I was considering going open-source (like MySQL). I, myself, am not prepared to shell out a lot of money on SQL Server even to learn it. I will download this and see if I can get it working as a back end for my databases.

Many thanks, Cosmos.

SHADOW

here's a GUI manager for the SQL 2005 express version
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=82afbd59-57a4-455e-a2d6-1d4c98d40f6e&displaylang=en

FYI - the software giveaway at the MSDN and technet events this quarter is pretty good. If you live close enough to get to one, it will be worth your time if the software is something you could use. They also have drawings for door prizes and if there are vendors there, they also often provide door prizes. The guy sitting next to me on Tuesday won a 15" flat screen TV.

Not for Resale versions of:
Visual Studio 2005 standard
SQL Server 2005 Standard
Biz talk Server 2006

All you have to do is sit through a 4 hour presentation on either SQL Server or VS. The VS session was very interesting. They demo'd building a form and a couple of web pages.

BTW - MSFT is serious about the NFR policy for their "giveaway" software. If they see it on ebay, you are likely to hear from their lawyers.

I had the opportunity to attend Launch 2005 here in Syracuse. I thought the demo's were excellent! Choc full of "check this out" stuff.

I definately liked the software selection in the giveaway.

Also, if you're bored with a section, take a break and go talk to some of the staff about their experience with .NET in general. They love to chit chat about their Kung-Fu; I was actually able to complete a project with better performance and scalability at work after a 30 minute conversation with one of them.

I downloaded the Visual Studio and SQL Server Express Files last week, but am wondering now, is there a way to download the software to disk? I can download the set up programmes to disk, but running them downloads the actual programmes from MS, with no option to save to disk. I presume the downloaded files sit in a temporary directory somewhere but I don't really know where to look. I only ask cos I recently had my hard disk die completely and would like to back up the installation files in case anything similar happened after MS withdraw the free versions next year.

I had previously downloaded the VB & C# Express editions but discovered that when I wanted to install the Visual Web Developer software I had to uninstall the two Express editions. I could be wrong but I don't think you can have it all!

In case anyone has missed it, Microsoft have now said they will extend these free downloads indefinitely. Virtual PC and Virtual Server are also now free. :)