Free + Microsoft w00t!

I think Microsoft is taking notice of the Open Source and Free software market ...

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Microsoft is also releasing cut down versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio, labelled 'Express', which will be available as a free download from the Microsoft website.

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It realy says free in this line does it ?? :D

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This is an attempt to get more hobbyists and non-developer enthusiasts to use the code, of which there has already been over a million downloads of the preview version.

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For the hobybyists and non-developer enthusiasts ... cool ... If it were a hobby that is :D

But if I check the Microsoft website of this Visual Studio Express Here then I see it is free ok ...but for 1 year only see here.

SQL Express is supposed to be free though Link

Full article Here .

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Oracle users are going to be offered a 50 per cent discount on licensing costs if they move over to Microsoft code. The firm has also bought Oracle migration tools from developer DB Best which will be available free to migrating customers.

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You see that's more the Microsoft I know ;)

C.

See... there are some major differences here... just take a look at the definitions...

Open Source (for the most part) is "free" as in "free speech"... not "free" as in "free beer". Yes, I stole that from the GNU project... or the moview "Revolution OS" or whatever... you can find it somewhere @ http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

The whole access to the source code thing is the "speech". A lot of the time... if you want support for the product... you're going to have to pay for it in one way or another.

Until Microsoft starts opening up their source code... it'll never be "free".

m$ is probably just giving stripped down versions for free so people will start to develop more around that. Then when the developers/users find out that "crap... they revised the "free" version and X feature is no longer available. Now we have to buy the full version or redesign our whole system." What is going to be cheaper? Its called system analysis and design.

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"There are 10 million hobby developers out there and we want to cover that customer segment. It's about extending across the whole IT community."

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These hobby developers that they are talking about would most likely be using OSS. Its a hobby... so they're not going to pay a crap load of money in licensing when they can get another version for "free".

The sucess of MySQL has been putting a hurting on M$SQL. Anyway... m$ already had a "free" version of SQL out... MSDE http://www.microsoft.com/sql/msde/default.mspx But there are major limitations with that.

Its just a promotion. When the newer versions of McAfee or Norton come out... look in the paper. You'll see $70 mail in rebates for a product you buy in the store for $69.99. They're hoping that you are going to renew your subscriptioin or upgrade to the newest version the following year.

Anyway... just my take on things.

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Its just a promotion. When the newer versions of McAfee or Norton come out... look in the paper. You'll see $70 mail in rebates for a product you buy in the store for $69.99. They're hoping that you are going to renew your subscriptioin or upgrade to the newest version the following year.

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I completely agree with your take on things ... hence my sometimes not obvious pun in between the lines :D

Anyway ... it seems now that Microsoft (to come back to Mcafee and/or Symantec/Norton) has their answer ready for that market as well.

According to THIS
article, Microsoft is going to launch it's own version of something like Symantec's client security or Mcafee's EPo ... with it's own central management capabilities and works with AD...maybe you allready know about it but since the program is still in beta.

Today your desktop ...tomorrow ... :rolleyes:

C.

Hey Hey,

You've got it all wrong. Think about this from Microsofts stand point. What is the big thing they push.... not cost of software... they'd lose to OSS everytime. They push on TCO. What lowers TCO? Employees with knowledge in the area. Why does Microsoft license educational institutions for under 75 cents per license.... Why do they provide the MSDNAA for peanuts compared to the software the students get in return and now.. Why are they provided free Express versions.. Simple answer... It makes sense from a business standpoint. The license most likely says that you can't sell anything you create with the Express versions.... that's pretty standard with free releases... all the MSDNAA software has the same clause. If I get free copies of Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 (for example)... when I go out in the work place I'm going to have better knowledge of that software.... The odds are that my employer will want to work with software that I'm knowledgeable in... instead of buying an alternative (OpenExchange for example), they purchase Exchange 2003... The purchase of the software (which may be a little higher) will save them from having to send me to expensive training courses which will ultimately cost more (Travel, hotel, food, the course, a replacement while I'm gone, etc).

Now we move into programming and do the same thing. Sure I could go with Dev-C++ for my small application development, but this user is familiar with the Visual C++ setup thanks to Visual C++ Express. Why throw a learning curve in their face... it'd cost less to go out and purchase Visual Studio than it would to train them on the nuances of Dev-C++.

Database development... I'm familiar with SQL 2005 because I used SQL 2005 Express... Why throw me in the water with MySQL when for a few extra bucks you can give me what I'm familiar with.

From a security stand point.... You can secure something you're knowledgeable with... lowers the TCO with respect to security as well.

It's technically Win-Win for everyone.... You gain the knowledge, Microsoft is lining up furture business. It hurts OSS but like it's been stated before, large corporations are leary of using OSS. A broader spectrum of people with the proper skill set is good for the companies...

I give Microsoft kudos for stepping it up a notch....

Peace,
HT