DreamSpark
DreamSpark is a Microsoft program to provide students with software design and development tools at no charge. The program was originally available for university/college students in Belarus, Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the U.K. and the U.S., but has now been expanded to more than 80 countries and is offered to many high school students.[1] To register, students must visit the DreamSpark website and verify their identity. If an institution is not listed on the available list, the user may manually verify their student status by uploading a proof such as an ID card.
The DreamSpark program was announced by Bill Gates on February 20, 2008 during a speech at Stanford University.[1][2] It is estimated that up to 35 million students will be able to access these software titles free of charge through this program.[3]
Contents
Verification
Proof of student status is required to download software and obtain product keys. On the DreamSpark website, students can verify their identity using ISIC cards, access codes ordered by school administrators, or .edu email addresses. Students remain verified for 12 months afterwards. If students can't find their school, they can manually submit a response with a proof of student status.
Products offered
Several development software titles are available for download through the program. They include:[4]
Commercial products available for free through DreamSpark
- Visual Studio 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 Professional Editions
- Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011
- Expression Studio 4 Ultimate (became a free product as of 2013, discontinued)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2014
- Microsoft SQL Server 2012
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition 32-bit
- Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition 64-bit
- Windows Server 2012 Datacenter and Standard Editions 64-bit
- Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter and Standard Editions 64-bit
- Windows Embedded CE 6.0
- Windows Embedded Standard 7
- Windows Embedded 8 Industry Pro
- Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro
Only through DreamSpark Premium:
- MS-DOS 6.22
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows 7 Professional
- Windows 8 Pro
- Windows 8.1 Pro
- Windows 10 Education
- Visual Studio 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 All Editions
- Individual programs from Office 2007 OneNote, Access, Groove, Visio, Project
- Individual programs from Office 2010 OneNote, Access, SharePoint Workspace, Visio, Project
- Individual programs from Office 2013 OneNote (now free of charge), Access, Lync, Visio, Project
The basic three Microsoft Office applications of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are not available through DreamSpark: Office Home & Student 2013 or Office 365 University offers those at a discounted price for students. Unlike the programs listed above, there is no way to access similar older and compatible versions (2010, 2007) of Office for Word, Excel or PowerPoint under DreamSpark.
Free products also downloadable from DreamSpark
- Visual Studio Express 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013
- SQL Server Express 2008, 2012
- Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R3 and Microsoft CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008
- XNA Game Studio 4.0
- Virtual PC 2007
- Windows Phone Developer Tools
- Windows MultiPoint Mouse SDK
- Microsoft Small Basic
- Kodu Game Lab
- Microsoft Mathematics
Offers
- 12-Month Academic Trial Membership to XNA Creators Club
- $99 waiver on Windows Marketplace for Mobile and first 100 submissions free
- Free 90-day subscription to Pluralsight training courses
- Waiver on costs for app submission to the Windows 8 Store
Past products offered
- Expression Studio 1 (included Web, Blend, Design, Encoder and Media)
- Expression Studio 2 (includes Web, Blend, Design, Encoder and Media)
- Expression Studio 3 (includes Web, Blend, Design and Encoder)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition (x86 only)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition (x86 and x64)
- Visual Studio 2005 Express
- Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
- XNA Game Studio 3.1
- Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (x86 only)
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows XP Professional
