Jun 292004
For Free! Visual Studio 2005 beta 1 is available to MSDN subscribers (at a later stage to non-subscribers as well) for immediate download and the lite versions (Microsoft decided to call them “Express”, like Outlook Express) of Visual Basic, C++, C#, J#, Webdev and SQL are available to everyone.
The Express versions are light-weight, easy-to-install products, targetted at hobbyists, enthusiasts and novices to enable them to expand their knowledge or just to create dynamic (web)applications without losing an arm and a leg.
Wow! I must say my perception of the whole Microsoft domination changed when they introduced .NET, but lately I think that one should wonder why NOT go with Microsoft?
Why NOT use Microsoft development tools to program .NET?
There are several reasons why I prefer Delphi 8 (9 to come soon) for .NET development. Ok, I’m somewhat prejudiced, being a Delphi programmer. First I find Pascal to be more eloquent and maintainable than C#. Second, in Delphi The Borland Data Provider components make multi-database development easy: no need for different Delphi code for different DBMS’s. Last I find the Delphi IDE to be more intuitive than the Visual Studio IDE, but this is just because I’m used to it I suppose.
Great news. Is the registration free for the MSDN ? I don’t remember. Anyway, I will be pulling the files shortly! Indeed MS gains territory with their aggressive .NET promotion. I can also see Troy’s point, but I must say I like the C# language. It’s much more easy to pick up on than its predecessor C++
MSDN registration is not free. I can’t recall I said that. “MSDN Subscribers” is the term I used. MSDN is expensive, I know. But the Express versions of Visual Studio 2005 beta 1 are free and available to everyone.