Microsoft takes aim at 'non-professional' programmers
MS-Watch | at | by Mike
The Redmond software vendor is targeting the18 million 'wannabe' programmers with its new Express line. On Tuesday, Microsoft officially took the wraps off a new line of low-priced tools aimed at non-professional programmers.
The first betas of both the full Visual Studio tool suite and the so-called "Express" versions of Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual J# and SQL Server (as well as a new product, Visual WebDev Express) will be available this week for download from the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) site here. (Visual Studio 2005 Beta 1 will be available to MSDN testers only; the Express betas will be open to anyone.)