Visual Studio 2010 Licensing Explained

It’s not always easy to get insight into Microsoft licensing options, but for customers looking to buy Visual Studio 2010, the company offers a special resource. The Visual Studio 2010 and MSDN Licensing White Paper can be grabbed from the Microsoft Download Center free of charge, unlike VS 2010.

The whitepaper is designed to offer an overview of the Visual Studio 2010 product line, with the software giant also offering MSDN subscriptions information, when it comes down to licensing and deployment scenarios.

“With the introduction of Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft made significant changes to simplify decision making for customers and make products more accessible, including:

- Simplified product naming and development tool options.

- Changes to MSDN subscriptions to align with the new development tools.

- Introduction of a new product for software testers.

- Introduction of functionality for lab management.

- Improvements to licensing terms for Team Foundation Server and load testing,” the software giant stated.

Developers that have acquired older releases of Visual Studio might be aware of the fact that the Licensing whitepaper is not something new for the Redmond company.

In fact, the software giant produced similar resources for Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005, both of which continue to be available for download.

The Visual Studio 2010 and MSDN Licensing whitepaper is designed to cover a range of topics, including details on the Visual Studio 2010 Product Line, on how to buy the products, on individual development tool licensing, etc.

“Individual development tools “with MSDN” are commonly referred to as MSDN subscriptions, which are comprehensive offerings that include both the named Visual Studio product as well as an array of other benefits such as the ability to develop and test using other Microsoft products and platforms, technical support, Microsoft E-Learning, and the rights to use any new versions of the software that are released during the active term of the subscription,” the company added.

Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM ISO and Installer are available for download here.