LiveSide - News blog : Students

Microsoft DreamSpark - FREE Software For University And Now High-School Students Worldwide!

Sunshine — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:03:36 GMT

Microsoft DreamSpark, launched February 2008, is now also available to High-school students. This was announced by Bill Gates at the Government Leaders Forum in Washington DC.

“Today, despite the economic crisis, it’s as important as ever to focus on investing in innovation so we can continue to make real progress in solving big problems and creating social and economic opportunity,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “In particular, I believe investment in education is essential. Education is the starting point for success for individuals and the prerequisite for economic growth and prosperity for communities. It’s vital that we support efforts to provide children with access to a high-quality education and adults with access to ongoing technology skills training.”

Microsoft DreamSpark is a program that provides no-cost access to Microsoft designer and development tools and training for verified high school and university students around the world, to support and advance their learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science and engineering activities. Originally Microsoft DreamSpark was only available to University students, there have been nearly 2 million downloads from students around the world since its release.

Unlike University students, High School students do not sign up for DreamSpark themselves, the School Administrator does and receives product keys to hand out to the students. Next the students can sign in with their Live ID on the DreamSpark site and download the software.

The following software is available:

Amazing, and who knows, maybe we’ll see some great Windows Live apps coming from these young developers (to be).

Microsoft DreamSpark
BlogMS - Official Microsoft Team Blogs : Microsoft DreamSpark - FREE software for University and now High-School students
Official press announcement

Microsoft DreamSpark - Free software development tools for students

Sunshine — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:15:03 GMT

On Live in Europe, Brian Groth reported students can get free software development tools:

Over on Channel 8, the video blog for students, Bill Gates just announced free software for students in a program called DreamSpark.

DreamSpark is simple, it's all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools
at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology - or just get a
head start on your career.

Available software:

Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
XNA Game Studio 2.0
12-month free membership in the XNA Creators Club
Expression Studio (Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Media)
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
SQL Server Developer Edition
Virtual PC 2007
Visual Basic 2005
Visual C++ 2005
Visual C# 2005
Visual J# 2005
Visual Web Developer 2005

At the moment it's available to students in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. More countries will be added to the list throughout the year.

In order to get this software from Microsoft at no charge, you will be asked to establish or verify your student status once every 12 months. This process is built into the DreamSpark site itself. Verification of valid student status will enable students from around the globe to download Microsoft developer and design tools at no charge. Note: You must be at least 18 years old or have otherwise reached the age of majority in the place (province, state or country) where you live, or if not, your parent or legal guardian must accept the Microsoft DreamSpark software license terms on your behalf, in order for you to download and use the software.

After you setup Microsoft's latest and greatest software development and design tools, please take a look at the Windows Live APIs and controls so you can start building your own great mashups and solutions based on Windows Live.

Great tip Brian, thanks. If I were a student I'd surely check out DreamSpark!

Attention all students! Imagine Cup Software Design Windows Live Award

Sunshine — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:40:36 GMT

Angus Logan just made us aware of the Imagine Cup Software Design Windows Live Award in his post Are you a student? Want to compete for $10k and a trip to France? Imagine Cup Software Design Windows Live Award:

I've been with our great academic team to launch the Imagine Cup Software Design Windows Live Award.

Basically - its a software dev competition for students to build compelling applications using the Windows Live Platform.

The Imagine Cup 2008 Theme: "Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment."

What are the deadlines for the Windows Live Award?
This Contest starts at 12:01 AM Greenwich Mean Time ("GMT") on February 12, 2008 and ends at 11:59 PM (GMT) on May 14, 2008 ("Entry Period"). Entries must be received within the Entry Period to be eligible.

You can register at www.imaginecup.com as instructed during the Entry Period, either individually, or as a member of a Team.

The Imagine Cup 2008 Worldwide Finals will be held in Paris France from July 3-8, 2008.

If you want a chance to win $10,000 and get a trip to the final in France check it out here.

Thanks Angus. Good luck students!