MSVC Studio.net Pro.... $90?!?

[punkrockguy318]

http://www.studica.com/microsoft/cat...?categoryid=23
at that site, they sell two things of intrest.
1) MSVC++ Standard. $50
2) MSVStudio Professional $90

Does MSVS come with MSVC Pro? MSVC Pro is $500 by itself!!! What's wrong here?

Also - is optimization really worth all the extra money?

[DougDbug]

is optimization really worth all the extra money?

No. Don't spend the extra money 'till you think you need it for your programs. By then, there will proably be a newer version of MSVC++ available.

[nickname_changed]

I don't know about the site, but in regards to the optimisation thing, its not just extra optimisation MSVC gives you. Not having to cart around thousands of dlls/libs (Borland C++ Builder style), being able to use any library/SDK (like DirectX 9, although im not sure how well it works with DevC++) are all added bonuses MSVC gives you, because almost all of these SDKs are written for MSVC, as its the most common windows compiler out there.

Personally, I got MSVC because I needed to use the socket libraries, which didn't seem to work in DevC++ (they probably do but maybe I needed to link with something, and at the time I didn't know how), nor in Borland C++ builder (which IMHO, if it didn't require hundreds of DLL's/Libraries for programs to run, would be far better than VB or MFC). I also wanted to use the DirectX SDK, which only came with instructions for MSVC, and I didn't know how to set it up for other compilers.

It all depends on what sort of programs you want to make, and what requirements they need from your compiler.

[adrianxw]

The vast majority of MS products are available at huge discounts to academic users. In the past at least, you paid the normal price but got a refund ticket which you needed to submit via your university or whatever and got the balance back. I think Borland operate the same kind of scheme.

It is a marketting ploy. If people get used to certain products at school/uni, they are more likely to use the same tools when they leave.

[EvBladeRunnervE]

what I find interesting is that it is prof. edition for ~100 dollars. the reason that doesnt make sense is that the academic edition of MS products contains a clause that you are not allowed to release commercial products with it. I doubt it is prof. edition like they say on the site, because :

1) everywhere else, full VS pro .NET is ~600+ dollars

2) Academic edition everywhere I have looked is ~100 dollars, so it makes logical sense that on a academic site to have the acadmic version.