Programming with new Microsoft products & technologies does not have to cost anything. Besides offering time-limited (trial editions) or feature-limited (Express editions) versions of its products, MS also makes available VHDs of some of its popular products. Here is a list of such VHDs that I've come across (work in progress) -
The downside is that most of these VHDs are time-bombed and are VERY bulky.
If after evaluating a product, you wish to seed these trial editions of the OS, SQL, VS, etc. with MSDN keys so the VPC doesn't expire, you can (as acknowledged by an MS evangelist in the comments section of this link).
Also see: HOW TO try Windows Azure for free (without any credit card)
- IE6, IE7, IE8, IE9
- Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010
- Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management
- Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Project Server 2010
- Windows Server 2008
The downside is that most of these VHDs are time-bombed and are VERY bulky.
If after evaluating a product, you wish to seed these trial editions of the OS, SQL, VS, etc. with MSDN keys so the VPC doesn't expire, you can (as acknowledged by an MS evangelist in the comments section of this link).
Also see: HOW TO try Windows Azure for free (without any credit card)