Microsoft has said it will provide university students
in the UK with free copies of the latest Microsoft developer and
designer tools.
The Microsoft
DreamSpark student
programme makes available, at no charge, a broad range of
professional development and design software for download.
DreamSpark is available to more than six million Higher and Further
Education students in the UK today. In addition, the programme will
expand to provide access to secondary school students throughout
the next year.
Karen Price, CEO at E-Skills, said, "The UK's productivity and
future competitiveness depends on making the most of technology.
Microsoft is an active supporter of e-skills UK's campaign to make
the UK world class in technology skills and helping the workforce
of the future to develop valuable IT skills."
Jean Phillippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International,
said Microsoft wanted to give students access to the tools to help
them prepare for a job in IT. He said, "42% of all jobs in IT are
for people with Microsoft skills." This represents more than 14
million jobs globally. "There are lots of opportunities," he
said.
"No matter what choices our students make today and in the
future, information communication technology skills are set to play
a far more significant role in their lives than they have done for
their predecessors," said Steve Beswick, director of education at
Microsoft.
Microsoft DreamSpark is available to all students whose studies
incorporate technology, design, maths, science and engineering. For
example, students of history who need to analyse complex historical
data can benefit from database software and supporting tools.
The free tools include Visual Studio 2008 and 2005 editions, XNA
Game Studio 2.0, 12-month academic membership of the XNA Creators
Club and Microsoft's Expression Studio design tools. Additionally,
students will also be able to obtain free copies of SQL Server 2005
Developer Edition and Windows Server, Standard Edition.