Visual Studio

[FarmerPalmer]

Where is the best (cheapest) place to buy from ?

I have a 3 month trial of Visual Studio 2008 Pro
from www.vsj.co.uk magazine - came as a cover disc.

I then ordered a copy from bestpricedbrands.co.uk
2 weeks ago only to get an email this week cancelling the order
not that I'm surprised it was £158 for the professional version.

They are advertising it still - but at £160 .... strange !

Amazon are doing it for £700 in the UK and $700 in the US
but won't ship to the UK from the US.

[PRC1964]

Where is the best (cheapest) place to buy from ?

I have a 3 month trial of Visual Studio 2008 Pro
from www.vsj.co.uk magazine - came as a cover disc.

I then ordered a copy from bestpricedbrands.co.uk
2 weeks ago only to get an email this week cancelling the order
not that I'm surprised it was £158 for the professional version.

They are advertising it still - but at £160 .... strange !

Amazon are doing it for £700 in the UK and $700 in the US
but won't ship to the UK from the US.

It's probably worth getting a flight over to the US and having Amazon send it to your hotel.

[thunderlizard]

Worth looking in at a CEX shop if there's one nearby. They often get up-to-date stuff second hand remarkably quickly.

[VectraMan]

Do you need Pro? I've been happily developing with 2005 standard for a while. Not sure what's missing, but nothing I've needed so far.

[MrRobin]

Are there many features in Pro that aren't in the express edition? That's free!

Good tip about CEX... might have to pay a visit to my local one at some point to have a butchers.

[MrRobin]

What's a "CEX" shop?

Computer Exchange

[VectraMan]

Are there many features in Pro that aren't in the express edition? That's free!

VC++ express doesn't have ATL and MFC, which I needed:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...h9(VS.80).aspx

Can't find any clear info on what's different in the C# version. And anyone wanting VB has no business posting in technical.

[MikeC1408]

BestPricedBrands is based in the states....

Do a google search on them and see the reviews, guarantee you won't touch them with a barge pole again, If you got your money back you've done well.

[PAH]

The Microsoft Action Pack may be worth investigating, which includes VS2008 (not sure which version), amongst other software.

Last time I got one, about 5 years ago, it was only a couple of hundred quid.

Then moved onto Microsoft's empower programme for two years to get the full MSDN library for £300 IIRC. Still plodding away with the Microsoft dev tools based solution you need to register with them to qualify. I reckon another 5 years should do it.

[FarmerPalmer]

The Microsoft Action Pack may be worth investigating, which includes VS2008 (not sure which version), amongst other software.

Last time I got one, about 5 years ago, it was only a couple of hundred quid.

Then moved onto Microsoft's empower programme for two years to get the full MSDN library for £300 IIRC. Still plodding away with the Microsoft dev tools based solution you need to register with them to qualify. I reckon another 5 years should do it.

https://partner.microsoft.com/40016455
£199 + vat
excellent - thank.