Microsoft DreamSpark, a project designed to allow students free access to the Redmond company's software solutions, is now open to high school students worldwide. The Government Leaders Forum — Americas outside Washington, D.C. was the stage where the software giant introduced the expansion of the DreamSpark student program in a move to ensure that people around the world would use the necessary tools and resources to help them develop the technology skills required for the future. Until it opened up the program to high school students around the world, DreamSpark was available exclusively to university students.

“Today, despite the economic crisis, it’s as important as ever to focus on investing in innovation so we can continue to make real progress in solving big problems and creating social and economic opportunity,” Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, explained. “In particular, I believe investment in education is essential. Education is the starting point for success for individuals and the prerequisite for economic growth and prosperity for communities. It’s vital that we support efforts to provide children with access to a high-quality education and adults with access to ongoing technology skills training.”

Via DreamSpark, students worldwide will now be able to take advantage of developer and designer resources used by professionals, at no charge. Microsoft is offering a variety of products for download, including Visual Studio 2008 and 2005 Professional, SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition, Robotics Developer Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008 Standard, Expression Studio 2, and even Virtual PC 2007.

Just ahead of opening up DreamSpark, Microsoft has also overhauled the visual style of the website. “The final instalment of the Dreamspark website is now live. The site has undergone an upgrade in design and UX making it even easier to access the software you want for free,” Pradeepa de Silva, academic manager, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, said. “If you are not familiar with Dreamspark- The program offers Microsoft’s Developer and Design software (VS08, Expression2, WS08, SQL08, XNA and more) for free to students around the world.”