Product: Microsoft Announces Free Visual Studio 2005 Express

Microsoft has announced that it is releasing its Visual Studio 2005 Express editions for free on its website, joining the SQL Server 2005 Express editions as a no-cost offering within the Microsoft application platform. "Software has the potential to transform everyday lives. By making the Visual Studio 2005 Express editions available free of charge, we're putting the power of programming into the hands of an exploding community of recreational programmers," said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. "This community has asked for it, and we are excited to provide it." Coupled with Microsoft SQL Server Express, the Visual Studio Express editions provide a tool that meets the needs of a wide range of software enthusiasts, including beginning Windows developers, hobbyist Web developers, amateur game developers and even hardware developers. All the editions of Visual Studio Express will be offered as free downloads: Visual Web Developer Express, Visual Basic Express, Visual C# Express, Visual C++ Express and Visual J# Express. According to the company, since the launch of the Visual Studio and SQL Server Express editions on Nov. 7, 2005, a strong community has built up around the products and the various editions have been downloaded more than 5 million times. More information and downloads for the new Visual Studio Express free products is available from the official Microsoft website devoted to them.