“Welcome to Microsoft DreamSpark Professional Developer and Designer tools for students at no charge.” (Microsoft)

I think this is really a great thing that Microsoft did for the students of the present and future. It allows students to get enriched in a great platform and at the same time use the leading tools of today to create their dreams. I am hoping that they open this program up to more students.

The idea behind this is really straight forward - provide professional tools to students and empower them to make incredible breakthroughs and get a head start on a cool career in technology.

This program is currently being rolled out to 10 countries around the world including United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium.

Students will be able to download any of the following software products via Channel 9 and will have to go through a quick online third party-driven authentication process to validate their student status. Once this is done, they will be able to download the software of their choice- one title or all.

Microsoft developer tools

• Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• XNA Game Studio 2.0 ( 12 months free membership in the XNA Creators Club )

Microsoft designer tools

• Expression Studio, including: Expression Web
• Expression Blend
• Expression Design
• Expression Media

Microsoft platform resources

• SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
• Windows Server, Standard Edition

• Visit DreamSpark

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