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Expression Studio not for everybody, the saga continue...

Well a lot of interesting comments about the post from yesterday. Some I received privately, some in the comments, but the question remains, why Expression Studio is available only to the top MSDN Premium subscription?

I don't get the logic behind this decision, and a lot of developers are sharing the same thing.

If I didn't choose to be part of the top MSDN subscription it's because I didn't need all the Team Foundation and Architect stuff, not because of a cost issue. So I find sad that Microsoft decide what I should get in my downloads and not :-(

Now for the comments:

From Daniel:

Microsoft seem to be doing everything they can to push developers to open source products.

I remember when MSDN Universal gave you everything, now that only Team Suite does this, which is out of the reach of a lot of  companies(due to cost). The only way now to get some of the high end source management/project management features is use open source products with VS2005.

For new developers(students,hobbyists,small business) it is now too expensive to write programs for the Microsoft platform. Microsoft's pricing polices with MSDN are pushing people towards open source and Java. Once these people have been lost they are unlikely to return and the door being opened slowly but surely to Mac's and Linux.

Due to the attitude of unaffordable development software the mind share is moving towards open source and Java. Hopefully Microsoft wakes up before it is too late.

If anything Team Suite should be part of the MSDN Premium bundle and pricing. Most Java IDE's , Source Control,Project Management, etc software is free. This is price level Microsoft really needs to compete against.

Come on Microsoft, help us developers make the Microsoft platform the place to be.

Daniel I agree with you on this one. Microsoft also seems to give in one hand and take back on the other one. Look at all the fuss aout Silverlight. How I am supposed to promote those technologies in my company if I can't have access to them (and I am not saying for free here, I pay a hefty sum for MSDN).

From Brennan:

I am able to see Expression Web and Expression Blend. Is there also a studio version which includes everything in one application?

Yes Brennan I can see them too but it's not the full package, just about half of it. You miss Expression Media and Design, the key stones of Expression tools.

Now my next move will be to contact Scott Guthrie and see what can be done to change things. Well I can dream!

 

Posted: May 31 2007, 09:00 AM by help.net | with 2 comment(s)
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Comments

Expression Studio not for everybody, the saga continue... - help.net said:

Pingback from  Expression Studio not for everybody, the saga continue... - help.net

# May 31, 2007 4:29 AM

Brennan Stehling said:

I am not so sure about people leaving .NET due to the missing Expressions Studio from MSDN, especially to Java which I personally no longer use because it is very difficult platform. Most Java developers who write code in their free time are now using Ruby on Rails. I am not aware of a single popular Java web applications on the level of others such as Wordpress or DNN. Besides all of that, I do hope to get access to the full suite. I looked at the Expressions videos a long while back and was most impressed with the Design portion, although I know many of these features will be in Orcas. So I may already have access to it through that Beta which I have installed but have not used much.

# May 31, 2007 4:45 PM