Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Now FREE for Non-Commercial Use (Professional Development Software)

tightarse on 12/12/2015 - 23:27

A few months ago, Microsoft announced a major change in the licencing for its premier software development environment Visual Studio.

Although you still need to pay several hundred dollars if you intend to use it for commercial purposes, the FULL PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE FREE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL USE. And even for small commercial projects too, in some cases.

So if you want to write programs using the same development environment that pretty much all professional coders use, check out Visual Studio 2015 Community (which is the moniker given to the free version).

You'll find it at www.visualstudio.com but be aware that the full download is considerably larger than the 0.2 MB installer that you initially download. So take care if you're on a limited or metered internet connection.

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Supported operating systems

Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Windows 8.1
Windows 8
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows 10

System requirements

On Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, update 2919355 (also available through Windows Update) is required for Visual Studio 2015 to install successfully.

Hardware requirements

1.6 GHz or faster processor
1 GB of RAM (1.5 GB if running on a virtual machine)
5 GB of available hard disk space
5400 RPM hard drive
DirectX 9-capable video card running at 1024 x 768 or higher display resolution

NOTE: The ISO DVD Image is a whopping 5.8Gb!

Found via HUKD & full description is a copy/paste from that site…

Free Software/Websites

Related Stores

visualstudio.com

Comments

[Deactivated] on 12/12/2015 - 23:29

This is good news, how is this much different from the Express version?
Clear on 12/12/2015 - 23:36

They're always non-commercial use. Oh well it'll still do it's job. Thanks TA.
- [Deactivated] on 13/12/2015 - 02:35
  
  Solo or up to five devs, you can use this for commercial purposes. In an enterprise, you can only use the Community version for open-source or education purposes.
  
  https://www.visualstudio.com/support/legal/mt171547
Pobman on 12/12/2015 - 23:44

Community edition has always been free in this way… surely a forum post for this at most.
mobo on 12/12/2015 - 23:49

it's equivalent to vs pro now i think. it's not cut down like express. also a much better announcement was this one https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/223654. Joining the dev program gives you heaps of goodies
pwrusr-com on 13/12/2015 - 00:47

Excellent news - thanks for sharing.
[Deactivated] on 13/12/2015 - 09:41

Community edition has been out for ages.
The upcoming $25/month of Azure credits will be good for small devs, but I already have a Microsoft Server and Cloud Enrollment.
[Deactivated] on 13/12/2015 - 11:43

This is old news and just a ploy by Microsoft to get more Windows developers.
I like the new VS, but I don't see the benefits of leaving Linux unless you work for Microsoft or do Windows development.
Stick to Linux ladies and gents.
- [Deactivated] on 13/12/2015 - 13:20
  
  or don't work for Microsoft but instead work in the real world where Microsoft technologies are kind and not some fairy land.
  
  Web development with VS is great if your sites are hosted on Azure as VS has many built in controls from Azure apps.
  That sames a heap of time not having to use other control panels to configure that stuff.