Frontier India Technology

Written on February 19, 2008 – 11:52 am | by P Chacko Joseph |

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates today will unveil a software giveaway that will ultimately provide millions of college and high school students around the world with access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge to unlock their creative potential and set them on the path to academic and career success.

The Microsoft DreamSpark student program (http://channel8.msdn.com) makes available, at no charge, a broad range of development and design software for download. The program is now available to more than 35 million college students in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. Broad global coverage, as well as an expansion of the program to high school students around the world, potentially reaching up to 1 billion students worldwide, will continue throughout the next year. Gates will share details with students and faculty at Stanford University as part of a U.S. and Canada college tour
that kicks off today.

Microsoft DreamSpark is available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering. Students of today are more technical in their everyday lives than ever — representing both their personal interests and what is expected of them when they arrive in the workplace for the first time. The following cutting-edge software will be
available to empower students to unlock their ingenuity by building critical skills:

— Microsoft developer tools. Visual Studio is the Swiss Army knife of
computer programming. These professional-grade products provide a
security-enhanced and reliable environment, enabling students to
program everything from a cell phone to a robot or to create their own
Web page. Students will also be able to invent compelling new gaming
content and make their dream game a reality by porting their creations
to their Xbox 360 console.
— Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
— Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
— XNA Game Studio 2.0
— 12-month free Academic membership in the XNA Creators Club

— Microsoft designer tools. This ultra-versatile suite of tools will
enable students to vividly bring their creative visions to life in
vibrant new Web site designs and more effective digital content,
including animation, imagery and photography.
— Expression Studio, including
— Expression Web
— Expression Blend
— Expression Design
— Expression Media

— Microsoft platform resources. The foundation for development and design
platforms, these products deliver a security-enhanced, reliable and
manageable environment for students to more quickly turn ideas into
reality.
— SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
— Windows Server, Standard Edition

Technological innovation is a critical economic growth engine and is expected to generate 7.1 million new jobs in the global economy over the next four years, according to a study of the economic impact of IT across 82 countries and regions carried out in 2007 by IDC and commissioned by Microsoft. The same study found that the IT employment base will grow to
42.5 million people, with the sharpest growth occurring in developing nations.

In the next six months, the company expects to expand Microsoft DreamSpark to college students in Australia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and many more countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe, as well as to high school students by the third quarter of 2008. Students should check http://channel8.msdn.com for regularly posted
updates to see when Microsoft DreamSpark will be available to them.

Microsoft is working with academic institutions, governments and student organizations around the world, such as the International Student Identity Card (ISIC) Association, to ensure the necessary local student identity-verification technology infrastructure exists to bring Microsoft
DreamSpark to all students in markets around the world. The program will be expanded as fast as this community-based effort with government and organizations can be connected at a local level in new countries.