DreamSpark
Encyclopedia
DreamSpark is a program set up by Microsoft
to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge. The program was originally available for university/college students in Belarus, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the U.K. and the U.S. but has now been expanded to more than 80 countries and is offered to many high school students. To register, students must visit the Dreamspark Website and verify their identity.
The DreamSpark program was announced by Bill Gates
on February 19, 2008 during a speech at Stanford University. It is estimated that up to 35 million students will be able to access these software titles free of charge through this program.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge. The program was originally available for university/college students in Belarus, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the U.K. and the U.S. but has now been expanded to more than 80 countries and is offered to many high school students. To register, students must visit the Dreamspark Website and verify their identity.
The DreamSpark program was announced by Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
on February 19, 2008 during a speech at Stanford University. It is estimated that up to 35 million students will be able to access these software titles free of charge through this program.
Verification
Proof of student status is required for access to the downloads and product key of the products. Students visit the DreamSpark website to verify their identity. ISIC cards, access codes ordered by school administrators, and .edu email addresses are the ways DreamSpark verifies students. Students remain verified for 12 months afterwards.Products offered
Several development software titles are available for download through the program. They include:Commercial products available for free through DreamSpark
- Visual StudioMicrosoft Visual StudioMicrosoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment from Microsoft. It is used to develop console and graphical user interface applications along with Windows Forms applications, web sites, web applications, and web services in both native code together with managed code for all...
2008 and 2010 Professional Editions - Expression Studio 2 (includes WebMicrosoft Expression WebMicrosoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is an HTML editor and general web design software product by Microsoft. It is part of the Expression Studio suite....
, Blend, DesignMicrosoft Expression DesignMicrosoft Expression Design is Microsoft's commercial professional illustration vector and raster graphic design tool for web images based on Creature House Expression, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003. It is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio suite...
, EncoderMicrosoft Expression EncoderMicrosoft Expression Encoder is a Windows-based program for encoding digital video for web-based video. Expression Encoder can be used to create video compressed VC-1 as well as H.264 for distribution via Microsoft Silverlight. Expression Encoder features a WPF-based modern graphical user...
and MediaMicrosoft Expression MediaPhase One Media Pro is a commercial digital asset management cataloging program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. It is the next version of iView MediaPro which Microsoft acquired in June 2006, and sold again in May 2010 to Phase One in Denmark...
) - Expression Studio 3 (includes WebMicrosoft Expression WebMicrosoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is an HTML editor and general web design software product by Microsoft. It is part of the Expression Studio suite....
, Blend, DesignMicrosoft Expression DesignMicrosoft Expression Design is Microsoft's commercial professional illustration vector and raster graphic design tool for web images based on Creature House Expression, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003. It is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio suite...
and EncoderMicrosoft Expression EncoderMicrosoft Expression Encoder is a Windows-based program for encoding digital video for web-based video. Expression Encoder can be used to create video compressed VC-1 as well as H.264 for distribution via Microsoft Silverlight. Expression Encoder features a WPF-based modern graphical user...
) - Expression Studio 4 Ultimate (includes WebMicrosoft Expression WebMicrosoft Expression Web, code-named Quartz, is an HTML editor and general web design software product by Microsoft. It is part of the Expression Studio suite....
+SuperPreview, Blend+SketchFlow, DesignMicrosoft Expression DesignMicrosoft Expression Design is Microsoft's commercial professional illustration vector and raster graphic design tool for web images based on Creature House Expression, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003. It is part of the Microsoft Expression Studio suite...
and EncoderMicrosoft Expression EncoderMicrosoft Expression Encoder is a Windows-based program for encoding digital video for web-based video. Expression Encoder can be used to create video compressed VC-1 as well as H.264 for distribution via Microsoft Silverlight. Expression Encoder features a WPF-based modern graphical user...
Pro) (without codecs) - Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer Edition (x86 and x64)
- Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
R2 Standard Edition, with SP2 32-bit - Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition 32-bit
- Windows Server 2008 R2Windows Server 2008 R2Windows Server 2008 R2 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and launched on October 22, 2009. According to the Windows Server Team blog, the retail availability was September 14, 2009. It is built on Windows NT 6.1, the same core...
Standard Edition x64 - Windows Embedded CE 6.0 although not R2 or R3.
- Windows Embedded Compact 7
- Windows EmbeddedWindows EmbeddedWindows Embedded is a family of operating systems from Microsoft designed for use in embedded systems. Microsoft makes available four different categories of operating systems for embedded devices targeting a wide market, ranging from small-footprint, real-time devices to Point of Sale devices like...
Standard 7
Free products also downloadable from DreamSpark
- Visual Studio Express 2010 and 2008 and SQL Server ExpressSQL Server ExpressMicrosoft SQL Server Express, a freely downloadable and distributable version of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system, comprises a database specifically targeted for embedded and smaller-scale applications.- Capabilities :...
- Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 and Microsoft CCRConcurrency and Coordination RuntimeConcurrency and Coordination Runtime is an asynchronous programming library based on .NET Framework from Microsoft distributed with Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio...
and DSS Toolkit 2008 - XNA Game Studio 4.0
- Virtual PC 2007Windows Virtual PCWindows Virtual PC is a virtualization program for Microsoft Windows. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product...
- Windows Phone Developer Tools
- Windows MultiPoint Mouse SDK
- Windows Internet ExplorerInternet ExplorerWindows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
9 - Microsoft Small BasicMicrosoft Small BasicMicrosoft Small Basic is a simplified variant of the BASIC programming language introduced by Microsoft in October 2008. With a bare minimum of concepts, Microsoft accredits this as an easy programming language for beginners to grasp. The language itself has only 14 keywords, and the environment...
- Kodu Game Lab
- Microsoft Mathematics
DreamSpark offers
- 12-Month Academic Trial Membership to XNA Creators Club
- One free Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist exam voucher
- $99 waiver on Windows Marketplace for Mobile and first 5 submissions free
- Microsoft IT Academy Student Pass (free e-learning courses to verified students)
- pluralsight training free 90-day subscription for more info click here
Past products offered
- Expression StudioMicrosoft Expression StudioMicrosoft Expression Studio is a suite of tools for designing and building web and Windows client applications and rich digital media contents.- Overview :...
1 (included Web, Blend, Design, Encoder and MediaMicrosoft Expression MediaPhase One Media Pro is a commercial digital asset management cataloging program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. It is the next version of iView MediaPro which Microsoft acquired in June 2006, and sold again in May 2010 to Phase One in Denmark...
) - Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition (x86 only)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition (x86 and x64)
- Visual Studio 2005 Express
- Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
- XNA Game Studio 3.1