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DreamSpark : free developpement software for students

So far, Microsoft’s MSDNAA program has allowed students to download some of their softwares (such as Visual Studio 2005 Professional and SQL Server 2005, among others) for free. Recently, the company launched a similar program called DreamSpark.

Free Developpement Software

Just like the MSDNAA program, DreamSpark is only for students. It is available in 11 countries: the United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Sweden and China. If you are a student and live in one of these countries, you will have access to this new program.

Microsoft plans to add more countries to this program. So if you are unable to download the software, you need to wait. Here is the software selection:

• Visual Studio Professional Edition (2005 and 2008);
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition;
• SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition;
• Microsoft ® Expression ® Studio;
• XNA Game Studio 2.0;
• And many others ...

This list is not complete, you can find all the modules on the program; as you can see, it is mainly development tools. If you are interested in the DreamSpark program, you should visit the website, which was set up for the occasion, and select the software you want to download.

Specifically, how do we get this famous software?

You should first go to the detailed data sheet for the software you want (which you can find here). Here, you will see three icons: Sign In, Verify and Download. Click on "Sign In".

Once connected, you will be asked where you live; you can either choose your region on the world map, or directly choose from the drop-down menu on the right. Once you've indicated your country, you must choose your school or your institution, as shown here:

Reaction from the Open Source world

The main players in the world of open source softwrare have not taken the news positively. AFUL (fr), the French Association of Users of Linux and free software, whose goal is to promote free software, see it as a "Last Chance Operation".

On the one hand, a certain satisfaction is created, because if Microsoft has implemented this system, it is good for recovering customers in the college market, which has almost disappeared (people are using Apache and MySQL more than Windows Server and SQL Server). Free softwares would be a threat for Microsoft, and they are facing it..

On the other hand, Free software companies are not reassured by the economic aspect Microsoft's operation. Indeed, it is a question of free and non-release of the sources. They are not sure that what is free today would be free tomorrow. The AFUL is worried and warns that Microsoft is only trying to make people dependent on its softwares. A student who has worked with Windows software for five years will tend to keep using the same software in his professional life.

Thanks to Linktim for his reaction paragraph in "the world of free software"

Enjoy !