MSDN Academic Alliance

[RyanW2050]

I guess now that i'm taking COP1000 (intro to vb) i have access to this.

They've got full versions of XP Pro, Vista, Office, Access, Visual Studio, etc for download.

Has anyone used this before? Am I allowed to just download Vista and use it on my home PC? Doesn't seem right.

 

[stevf]

I use it and it is completely legit - you have to register and then you can download the programs you want. The drawback is once you are done with school or appropriate classes then they wont support you any further. Read the license for this one before you agree to it. Dont think you can sell or transfer the license either - it is your and yours alone

Are you sure you can get full office? I cant get that, only access and one or 2 parts such as visio. I had to get office at the bookstore (1.5yrs ago, 2003 pro was $85) but that was inexpensive

Microsoft is doing this for several reasons - good will, advertising, etc. Basically they are getting their hooks in you now so that when you enter the working world you will tell those that make purchasing decisions how wonderful microsoft and their products are

So go for it - get the stuff you need for classes and stuff you want to try out

 

[mzkhadir]

you can use it as long as you are in school

 

[TheStu]

Like others have said, it is legit because your a portion of your tuition goes toward paying for your membership in the MSDNAA

 

[zerocool1]

I use it a lot...Its great.

 

[Schadenfroh]

yes

 

[konakona]

A short blurb on the licensing bit: at my old school I remember seeing a notice somewhere that said if you can provide evidence of academic use, they will let you have multiple cdkeys for xp/vista.

For now I just happened to need one each of 64bit and 32bit versions of vista for the primary and the secondary rig. They count as different OS and you get two separate cdkeys for them.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

It's the best part of Engineering. I have pretty much all of Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista Business 32bit & 64bit, Visual Studio, etc...
It does not have Office although you get Visio 2007. I remember reading the licensing, and it said that you can continue to use it even after graduating.

Hint: If they offer you multiple versions of Windows XP (say one without SP, one with SP1a, & one with SP2), just download the one with SP2 integrated. You only need to get the keys by "purchasing" the other ones, but you don't need to actually download them. The keys for the non-SP2 will still be valid for the ISO with SP2 integrated. Hope this makes sense.