Although even Microsoft has embarked on a path to software-plus services, heading straight for the Cloud, with Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at the helm, the company's co-founder continues to believe that it's all about software. Given the chance to start all over again, Bill Gates would build a software company, the part-time Microsoft Chairman revealed in an interview with Channel 8 (video embedded at the bottom of this article). Just last week, the software giant announced that it was extending the DreamSpark program to high-school students around the world as an integral part of its its Unlimited Potential efforts.

“By offering free access to the latest Microsoft software, Microsoft is empowering students to pursue their academic and professional goals, to become the next generation of IT and business leaders,” Trevor Taylor, program manager, Microsoft Applied Robotics Solutions, revealed.

“Because this is a new offering, High School administrators will need to sign up. However, hundreds of tertiary institutions are already enrolled as Identity Providers in 110 countries worldwide, which means that students and teachers can download software using the login details from their own academic institution. Downloading professional software (for academic use only) could not be easier!”

Via DreamSpark, the Redmond company is offering both high-school and college students free access to the following software solutions: Visual Studio 2008 Professional, SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition, Expression Studio 2, XNA Game Studio 3.0, Robotic Developer Studio, the CCR and DSS toolkit for the Robotic Developer Studio, and Windows Server 2008.

At this point in time, DreamSpark solutions are available in no less than 110 countries around the world. “School Administrators will need to register, help verify their school as an accredited institution using a tool in the DreamSpark website, and agree to certain terms and conditions (which will only come into effect when and only when your High School has completed the verification and registration process),” Microsoft's Mithun Dhar informed.