Major Changes in Licensing

In addition to introducing a new set of products, VS 2005 brings major changes in the way Microsoft prices and licenses its developer tools. Microsoft is aiming to undercut high-end competitors, such as IBM/Rational, by introducing new editions for team development and making changes to its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscription license program for developers. However, the prices may make Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) too expensive for small teams of developers.

Four Editions

Previous versions of VS included a series of Standard Editions (one for each of Microsoft’s programming languages), a Professional Edition that included all the languages, and a pair of Enterprise Editions-one for developers and one for architects.

With VS 2005, Microsoft is making significant changes to the VS lineup, adding a set of new high-end editions for team development as well as lower-cost editions for new developers. The lineup consists of the following:

Express Editions are a series of products designed for beginning programmers and students-one for each of Microsoft’s programming languages (VB, C#, C++, and J#) and one for Web development-priced at US$49 each.