Hey dennis9988,
This is from MS's FAQ for the Express editions:
Pricing
| 10. |
How much will these products cost? |
|
We are announcing a pricing promotion for Visual Studio
Express ? for the first year after the products launch on November 7th,
2005, customers will be able to visit MSDN to download their copy of
Visual Studio Express for free!**
Our customers are very excited about the release of these
products, so this limited-time download is our gift to the hobbyist,
student, and novice community ? we?re excited to see the amazing
applications they?ll build!
Note that SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is also a free
download. The free pricing for SQL Server Express is not limited to the
same one-year promotional period as Visual Studio Express.
[**We plan to launch the non-English versions of the
Express products sometime within 2-3 months after the English version
launches on November 7th. The same pricing promotion will apply to
these products, and will remain in effect for one full year after their
respective availabilities.]
|
| 11. |
You said ?free for one year? ? what does that mean, exactly? Will you be charging for this later? |
|
We originally announced pricing of Visual Studio Express
at US$49. We are now offering Visual Studio Express for free, as a
limited-in-time promotional offer, until November 6, 2006. Note that we
are also offering SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a free download,
and that this offer is not limited to the same promotional pricing
period as Visual Studio Express.
|
| 12. |
Do customers who acquire the
Visual Studio Express products during the free promotional pricing
period have to pay after the first year if they want to continue to use
them? |
|
No, as long as you download Visual Studio Express on or before November 7th 2006, you will not have to pay for it.
|
As far as your question pertaining to how far it will get you, not sure I understand what you mean by that. You'd be suprised at what you can build with the express editions. Plus you can always graduate to the full studio should your needs out pace what VWD provides.