Microsoft is offering for free, a number of their developer software free to students. Information can be found here: https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com/

Some of the products include:
Windows Sever 2003
Expression Studio
Visual Studio 2005 Pro
Visual Studio 2008 Pro
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
XNA Game Studio 2.0

I myself have Visual Studio 2005 from a different source, and it is quite a nice IDE I think (use it for my C++ class), and am going to look at Expression Studio.

its f***ing slow on anything less than a gig of RAM

I happen to have 2GB of RAM on my machine.

debugging with pretty much anything is f**king slow on anything less than a gig of RAM - get over it. VS is definitely one of (if not the) best IDE I've ever used (and I've tried a lot - I still can't find one I like for C++ in Linux... :/ )

I just got Visual Studio 2008. C# .NET 3 + LINQ == teh sex...

It is 2008, why do you have less than 1 on one of your computers (school comps I understand, the ones at my school have like 256 mb >.< )

Pity they leave us high schoolers out in the cold. XNA could be useful, especially since they just announced it'll support the Zune soon.

high school is supposed to be added next year some time.

I don't even care about debugging so much. I just want to be able to compile stuff without waiting 5 minutes for my IDE to start up. and compiling VC++ from the command line is an even shittier experience than waiting for the IDE to start up.

Harq: because I shouldn't need more then 512MB of RAM for anything I do, except possibly some of the 3d stuff, so there's no reason to by a new computer while this one still works fine.

Wait are you saying that microsoft did something right!!111! yeah their .net stuff is teh sizz. Oh and tari I'll makesure to ask around to see how many people will pitch in so you can get a Zune devlopers lisence.

Express Editions have been doing pretty much all the same stuff for a while now - just use those

@Elf: Your stuck in the past, either buy more RAM or shut up. Even Ubuntu shows significant improvements with 1gb+ of RAM. RAM is cheap anyway - I just picked up another 2GB of RAM for $35.

Wow, where are you getting ram at that cost I've never seen it that low?

I'm fine using an express edition, but the point is that XNA (basically) requires a 'creators club' membership - which is $100 per year.

XNA is completely free. You only need the "creators club" membership if you want 360 development. Otherwise, use the MS 'open source' community site for other stuff: http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/ All the tools and libraries, though, are completely 100% free...

@TheStorm: Various newegg deals. Oh look, here's some high quality Corsair XMS2 2x1gb, $35 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

One of my aquaintances who recently moved out of state stole two 256mb RAM out of school computers the last day of school, and somehow managed to not get caught. Those hungarians and their theiving skills... Talk about cheap RAM

It will aslo be reqired for Zune devolopment which is one of the things him and I were looking at doing since we both have zunes and we have a few friends who are willing to chip in to pay the $100.

Actually, it turns out it's only going to be required for 360 development, so everyone's happy now.

Well i certainly like being able to get Visual Studio 2008 free...i bought 2005 last year and now think i wasted the 300 bucks...and while i certainly am not endorsing this, there is nothing preventing you from getting a friend in college to create an account, then using it yourself to download from...

Why the hell did you buy it? Express Editions dude...

I definitely agree with Kllrnohj here; all my Microsoft programming products have been Express Editions.

While I have never used an Express Edition, I have heard that in most cases, they can do what most people need out of them. Granted, if you can get the Pro's for free, then why not really.