Quote:
When people use the term Visual Studio express are they in fact talking about the individual .Net downloads - VB.Net, C#.Net, Visual C++.Net, etc - that MS has made available for free or are they talking about a single download of an express edition of Visual Studio 2005 which has all the above languages integrated into one IDE?

They're talking about the individual downloads together. It's easier to say Visual Studio Express than to say VB .Net, C#, etc...

Quote:
Must I register the software in order for it to remain functional after this coming November? If I reformat my drive after registering is it simply a matter of re-registering the software with MS when I re-install the apps?

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

The Thing.

As far as registration, I'm not sure. My assumption is that no you are not required to register. As far as reinstalling, I suggest downloading the ISOs and burning them to discs but you shouldn't have a problem with installing the software after November. The main thing as it has been explained to me is that you need to download yourself a copy of it prior to that. However thats how I understand the situation, I could very well be wrong though.

Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions have all the fundamental Microsoft Languages broken up into separate applications. For example, lets say you want to program in C#; you would download the C# Express Edition. The same applies to C++, Visual Basic, or any other language that Microsoft supports. Each comes with its own IDE, so it is not integrated like Visual Studio Standard 2005.

But all of the Express Editions, including SQL Server Express, are free for life as long as you register them. Microsoft first said this offer will end in November 2006, but now they decided to make all Express editions free forever. So it can be the year 2007 and you will still be able to download these products free of charge.

Hope this helped [smile]...