Where to get the RTM version of Visual Studio Express Editions

One of the most exciting things about the new version of Visual Studio 2005 is the Express editions

These are freely downloadable versions of Visual Studio (free until November 2006) - they are packaged very specifically - making five different flavours:

These flavours are all Windows Forms only application development environments.  The limitations are: Language specific and only Windows Apps.

If you want to write Web applications you'll want to get:

Which will give you C#, VB.Net and J# languages but only for web development.

The RTM versions of these are now available from the MSDN Express site (https://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/).  Note that if you head to www.getexpress.com the beta versions are still posted - not the RTM version - and I dont know when this will be updated.

Once you've got these you'll want to register.  Why?  Because:

  • you need a registration key to allow the product to continue working past 30 days - registration will get you one for free
  • you get a royalty free image pack with 250 images in it
  • you get an icon suite - over 100 icons for no charge
  • you get free components, ebooks an articles to help you improve your coding skills quickly

Full details about the registration benefits are here

If you have questions about the downloading, installing and registering any of the Express products - see the FAQ for more details

Not a believer yet - see Craigs (not a developer) assessment of the VB Express!