Visual Studio 2005 Express Beta Products

Today, Microsoft announced at TechEd Amsterdam new products in the Visual Studio family: the Express line of products.

The Express products, expanding the Visual Studio product line to include lightweight, easy-to-use, easy-to-learn tools for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and novices who want to build dynamic Windows applications and Web sites.

It consist of:

• Visual Basic 2005 Express
• Visual C# 2005 Express
• Visual C++ 2005 Express
• Visual J# 2005 Express
• Visual Web Developer 2005 Express
• SQL Server 2005 Express

You can download the Beta 1 of these products at http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/

Prices are not announced yet but they should be low enough to be in the reach of all non-professional, first-time programmers and hobbyists.  The exception is SQL Server Express (MSDE replacement) that is free to use and redistribute.

Guy