Microsoft releases free, fully-featured version of Visual Studio

Microsoft today revealed a free and fully-featured version of its Visual Studio development tools, which can be used for commercial purposes by individual developers and small teams. Visual Studio Community 2013 is free to download and use, and provides access to the full Visual Studio extensibility ecosystem, says Microsoft, allowing developers to build games and apps for Window, iOS and Android platforms. Notably, Microsoft says that "Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps," while studios made up of five people or less can also use the tools for free. Studios with more than five people, or making more than $1 million in annual revenue, are not permitted to use the tools, says the company, except in specific scenarios. Microsoft also says that it is currently in the process of open-sourcing the full .NET server core stack, while expanding the open source .NET to run on Linux and Mac OS X. Those developers interested in grabbing this new free set of tools, or those who want to read more about today's announcement, can find details on the Microsoft blog.