Re: Visual Studio 2005 Express in now permanently free...

I am not comparing the languages themselves of course, since I would
rather do something horrible to myself than work with VB etc :), but
commenting more on the overall marketing.

Not to compare languages, but even the Express editions offer more options
for what they offer than BDS: J#, Managed C++, VWD, SQL Server Express,
Full support for VB, Support Forums (as well as newsgroups, but alot of new
users may not even know how to get on a newsgroup). Yes, the benefits far
outweigh the limitations; even comparatively.

Microsoft has been able to deliver far better releases (less bugs on
release) than Borland because of their Express users. They are also more
*responsible* at fixing bugs by releasing individual fixes, when possible,
instead of making them wait for full-fledges service packs. They have
always been good about this in all their products. There is nothing like
waiting for a critical bug to be fixxed while they fix other issues that
hardly affect developers (in general) as much.

I would recomment Borland implement a better Beta program, but given their
track record with bug fixes, etc.; it wouldn't help much. Maybe it has
something to do with manning, but for some problems as simple as a prj2mak
utility they miserably fail to deliver.

BDS is starting to look like most Linux distros. Buy now, patch later else
unusable.

Stop releasing products in Beta stage. That should help lots.

Nate.


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