Microsoft Student Partners

Microsoft loves students. And they want students to have the best access to software and technology. For Microsoft software there is two main ways to do this.

1. DreamSpark – any university student has access to this, technology wise or otherwise
2. MSDN-AA – each university specifically signs up for this. Generally this is available only for Computing & Engineering students. The university can sign up for MSDN-AA on its own or to IT Academy with includes MSDN-AA.

The good news is both Curtin and UWA both have signed up for MSDN-AA.

MSDN-AA primarily works by allowing students to borrow DVDs of the software and installing it on their machine. For Curtin students you can get the media from ComSSA, and UWA students should ask at the CSSE reception desk.

ELMS for MSDN-AA is an addon for MSDN-AA which allows the students to download the software online, not just install off pre-burned media. UWA has signed up for this and if you are a Computer Science student you should have received an invite for you to register. Once you have registered you can download the software at http://msdn70.e-academy.com/au_37792

For more information, please contact ComSAA at comssa@lists.curtin.edu.au for Curtin students or go to http://web.csse.uwa.edu.au/school_and_systems_information/school_systems_information/downloads for UWA students.

A couple of students noted why bother if they can just pirate the software? I would say just for the easy of use. No worrying about keygens or serials, updates all work and any genuine advantage addons just work.

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

Check it out!

It had to happen sooner or later. The Microsoft Student Partners Program Worldwide now has an official blog on MSDN Blogs.

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/mspprogram/ to bookmark and subscribe to the RSS feed.

Luke
UWA MSP

In what can only be described as “it’s about time” DreakSpark is set to land in Australia on September 2^th during the Australian Tech. Ed 2008 (Sydney) Student Day.

What do I get with DreamSpark?

DreamSpark currently contains:

• Visual Studio 2008 Professional
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Version
• Expression Studio
• XNA Game Studio 2.0 (+ Creators Club)

So what’s so great about DreamSpark you ask?

Yup, you get all the software it comes with via MSDN-AA anyway – but there are two big differences:

1. The license is unencumbered so you can use it for profit
2. XNA Creators Club! Perfect for those with Xboxs (and Zunes soon) the Creators Club grants you access to exclusive content and the ability to develop and debug games directly on the Xbox (but you already know that of course, because you attended game camp!)

It’s nice to (finally) see DreamSpark make it’s way down South – we’ll keep you posted as more information roles in!

How would you like to entirely set up your computer as a development machine with legitimate Microsoft software for FREE?
This is what the MSDNAA is offering you!

What is the MSDNAA? According to Microsoft’s site for it: “MSDN AA is the easiest and most inexpensive way for students and faculty in the technology and design fields to get the latest Microsoft software they need”. In a most basic level, Microsoft provides free software (excluding Office) to all Science\Engineering students such that they can use, test and evaluate it.

So, to get the most of the MSDNAA, you should set up a development environment on your laptop or home PC. How do you do this? Simple: Firstly, get yourself Windows Vista and Visual Studio 2005 (or 2008 if you can find it), then goto the Its Not Cheating site (Watch this space for the link) and get yourself Office Ultimate 2007 for $75. Now you have a basic set up that you can start to do development and assignments on. If you want to get serious grab Virtual PC 2007, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005 – with these 4 tools you have 3 perfect test environments (Vista, XP and Server 2003) that will allow you to do some serious development and testing.

Before you go off and set up your machine, there are also a couple of things that you need to know. Firstly, if you take out an Operating System, you also need to get another piece of software (you’ll note that my recommendations take this into account). Secondly, the MSDNAA Licence FAQ specifies: “Usage of MSDN AA software is always limited to non-commercial academic use”

MSDNAA Info Per University
If your University isn’t here – please contact us

• Curtin University – Go to 314.238 and find a ComSSA Committee member
• UWA – Follow the link to the CSSE info page on Downloads. You will need to complete an application form, and then you can borrow the CDs or download the software online.
  http://web.csse.uwa.edu.au/school_and_systems_information/school_systems_information/downloads

- Daniel
Curtin MSP

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Feb. 18, 2008 — 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.

“We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth,” Gates said. “Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students to explore the power of software and encourage them to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”

Click here for the entire article.

Unfortunately Australian students won’t have access until around the middle of this year, your local MSP will be able to tell you more closer to the release date. Until then, there have been reports that students with an International Student ID can register and start benefiting from the free software right away.