Ed Dunhill's Blog : MSDNAA

DreamSpark Verification Update

edunhill — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:08:00 GMT

Just a quick post today with a couple of bits of useful info about DreamSpark...

I have had a few mails from people who can't find their university listed in the 'Select your school/organization' list on the DreamSpark site. If your uni isn't listed you should still be able to verify using either your Athens ID (provided by most universities) or ISIC (number on ISIC or NUS Extra cards) - see below.

If you have an NUS Extra card all you need to do is select ISIC and enter the last 12 digits from your NUS Extra card.

If your university isn't listed, you're not provided with Athens IDs and you don't have an ISIC or NUS Extra card then take a look at the FAQ. If you still can't get verified then click here to get in touch.

If you have downloaded software from DreamSpark but are wondering what to do with the iso file then there is an excellent guide on Channel8 written by UK MSP Kris Athi. Check it out here.

Technorati Tags: DreamSpark,Channel8.com,Free Software,Students,Microsoft

DreamSpark - Free Software for all UK Students

edunhill — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:15:00 GMT

Today sees the launch of our DreamSpark programme allowing students around the world to download a selection of full Microsoft products for free.

DreamSpark is available to students in the UK as well as many other countries (with more to follow shortly) and includes the following products:

Developer Tools:

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
XNA Game Studio 2.0
12-month Academic membership of the XNA Creators Club

Designer Tools:

Expression Web
Expression Blend
Expression Design
Expression Media

Platform:

SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
Windows Server, Standard Edition

Each piece of software is the full product licensed for academic use and is available for instant download from the DreamSpark Web Site. All you have to do is visit the site, login with a Live ID, verify your student status (you must be in higher education) and download the software!

You can verify your student status using your Athens ID, ISIC number or University Authentication (where available) - if you have any problems verifying then please use this form to log a support request.

One of my favourite things about DreamSpark is the inclusion of XNA Creators Club memberships, this is the first time we have made these available to students for free so you can now build and deploy games onto your Xbox 360 without having to break into your student loan.

You can find out more about XNA along with how you set up your 360 for deploying your XNA games at the XNA Creators Club Web site.

So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself over to DreamSpark now and get yourself some free Microsoft software...

Plus don't forget Microsoft is also offering free Web Hosting to UK students in partnership with Webfusion. To find out more click here or email me to get your unique sign up code.

Technorati Tags: DreamSpark,Free Software,Microsoft,Students,XNA,Visual Studio,Expression Suite,SQL Server,Windows Server

Microsoft Book List

edunhill — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:55:00 GMT

I've spent the morning working with Clare Perry also of the academic team to compile a book list for students and academics to cover all of Microsoft's key developer technologies.

The list can be found on the team blog here.

If you know of any books on Microsoft technologies that you think should have made the list please comment.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Technology, Booklist, Students, Faculty, Academic