Visual Studio 2005 Educational

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 10:49

I'm confused why is this so much cheaper? What's to stop someone who's not in unversity buying this product and installing it?

As far as i can tell it comes with all the CD's etc.

Gman · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:23

I think at some stage during the ordering they ask for some kind of proof that your are autually at the educational instiute you say you area.

But realy if you at Uni you can probably get it for free through the MS academic Allience.

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:35

Well I have a genuine copy in my hands which i bought off of ebay, with all the cd's/auth code? So i'm confused :confused:

Instead of paying £200 i've spent £50

riddlermarc · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:51

PaulStat said:
Well I have a genuine copy in my hands which i bought off of ebay, with all the cd's/auth code? So i'm confused

Instead of paying £200 i've spent £50

Are you a student? Surely there's something in the T&C's stating you need to be in full-time education to use it?

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:55

riddlermarc said:
Are you a student? Surely there's something in the T&C's stating you need to be in full-time education to use it?

Nope not a student

Mickey · 22 Jun 2006 at 12:17

PaulStat said:
I'm confused why is this so much cheaper? What's to stop someone who's not in unversity buying this product and installing it?

As far as i can tell it comes with all the CD's etc.

The difference is the license you're buying.

If you're not a student/using it for educational purposes (not sure if MS count self-learning as educational) then you may aswell have got a pirate copy and saved yourself the £50.

Using an educational copy for professional purposes is as good as having no license at all basically.

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 12:24

Mickey said:
The difference is the license you're buying.

If you're not a student/using it for educational purposes (not sure if MS count self-learning as educational) then you may aswell have got a pirate copy and saved yourself the £50.

Using an educational copy for professional purposes is as good as having no license at all basically.

tbh it won't be for professional purposes, i may not be an official student, but I shall be using it to educate myself.

Gman · 22 Jun 2006 at 12:27

PaulStat said:
Nope not a student

Well then technically you are breaking the law then as you've purchased software under false information.

the fact you got it from ebay is probably why you got it without any sort of checks on your education claims.

Mickey · 22 Jun 2006 at 12:43

Gman said:
Well then technically you are breaking the law then as you've purchased software under false information.

the fact you got it from ebay is probably why you got it without any sort of checks on your education claims.

AFAIK its not illegal to buy educational coppies whoever you are.

A couple of years ago I was advised by someone from Macromedia to buy educational coppies of studio mx for the company I was working for at the time (nobody in the company had any experience at all of flash/fireworks) to learn with, then only buy full professional coppies for the people who were chosen to actually use the products in the course of their work. None of the people we got educational coppies for were students.

I don't see any problem with getting an educational version to do personal learning. The companies would rather that than everyone not paying anything and getting pirate copies.

All IMO of course

Richard Slater · 22 Jun 2006 at 13:06

Macromedia are not Microsoft though, you can get free "Express" Editions of C++.net, C#.net and VB.net which you can use for hobby/education.

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 13:34

Gman said:
Well then technically you are breaking the law then as you've purchased software under false information.

the fact you got it from ebay is probably why you got it without any sort of checks on your education claims.

You make it sound like i've downloaded it from Kazaa, I have paid for this you know, albeit not the extortianate 200 quid

robmiller · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:11

PaulStat said:
You make it sound like i've downloaded it from Kazaa, I have paid for this you know, albeit not the extortianate 200 quid

It's still not legit, though. Why didn't you just get the Express edition?

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:14

robmiller said:
It's still not legit, though. Why didn't you just get the Express edition?

I have a legit copy with certificates etc.

Una · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:19

Express edition is just as good though really, especially if your only learning.

robmiller · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:23

PaulStat said:
I have a legit copy with certificates etc.

Err... having the physical license on paper does not make it a legal contract or remotely legitimate. I'm pretty sure in the educational EULA it states that you must be a member of an educational institution to use the educational edition.

Gman · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:28

PaulStat said:
I have a legit copy with certificates etc.

it may be a legit copy but the licence you've bought does not match yourself. Its like me phoning up for car insurance and telling them I've got a 3 wheeler reliant Robbin when I've really got a top of the range BMW. you'll get the insurance but the insurance docs won't match me or what I've got.

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:30

robmiller said:
Err... having the physical license on paper does not make it a legal contract or remotely legitimate. I'm pretty sure in the educational EULA it states that you must be a member of an educational institution to use the educational edition.

tbh i didn't even know there was an express edition, i've bought the standard edition it has all the microsoft holograms etc.

it's boxed, has all the cd's (inc msdn), manuals. I really don't see what the issue is.

The guy I bought it of sells hundreds of items like this all legit copies. If they weren't he would have been found out by now

PaulStat · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:34

Gman said:
it may be a legit copy but the licence you've bought does not match yourself. Its like me phoning up for car insurance and telling them I've got a 3 wheeler reliant Robbin when I've really got a top of the range BMW. you'll get the insurance but the insurance docs won't match me or what I've got.

nice analogy

although when you crash your robin reliant and ask for thousands of pounds to fix it you'll get found out.

using an educational piece of software when i'm not in education is hardly the crime of the century. I haven't pinched it off the back of a lorry and I haven't downloaded it from some illegal site

I still fail to see the issue :confused:

Beansprout · 22 Jun 2006 at 14:45

PaulStat said:
tbh i didn't even know there was an express edition, i've bought the standard edition it has all the microsoft holograms etc.

it's boxed, has all the cd's (inc msdn), manuals. I really don't see what the issue is

The issue is that the holograms and stuff just prove it's an MS CD, so it won't be full of viruses etc, ie it is the actual product.

But that's not what you're buying. What you're buying is a license to use the software.

riddlermarc · 22 Jun 2006 at 15:29

PaulStat said:
The guy I bought it of sells hundreds of items like this all legit copies. If they weren't he would have been found out by now

Yes they are legal, that's not the issue.. you can buy exactly the same thing from a legit shop but still doesn't mean you are allowed to use it.

Beansprout said:
But that's not what you're buying. What you're buying is a license to use the software.

That's right, when you buy software it's not just the physical media but also the "right" to use the software - I can use a friends XP cd but use my own serial key and it would be technically okay. Buying the software entitles you to use it, if you are buying a package that's for students and you are not one then you are breaking the law, simple as that.

I have a MSDN Universal subscription which permits me to d/l and use ANY MS software, as long as it's not for production use - I have a good few boxen set up as test servers both at work and at home and that's fine, but if I used my MSDN key on a production machine I'd be breaking the license terms and would get a slap if found out