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Windows products, being developed as proprietary platforms, inherently came with price tags, and are in this context more expensive than Apple's Mac OS X, and without a doubt more than Linux, which is generally offered for free. But Windows operating systems are also available as free downloads from the Redmond company. The latest example is Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2.

Via the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server and Team Suite VPC Image, Microsoft is offering end users the possibility of test driving Visual Studio 2008 on top of Windows Server 2003 until the end of 2008. Like all free offers from the company, the VPC Image is time-bombed, and set to expire on December 31st, 2008.

"This virtual machine is running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, SP2. It contains a full installation of Team Foundation Server 2008, Team Build 2008, Team Explorer 2008, Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite and all necessary prerequisites. In addition, it has been updated with Office 2007 SP1, current Windows Updates as of March 25, 2008, and the December Release of the TFS Power Tools. Team Foundation Server is installed in workgroup authentication mode and thus does not require a domain controller," Microsoft stated.

Running the VPC Image involves having installed either Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. With just Virtual PC 2007 you can also take advantage of a free copy of Windows Vista RTM, and three free copies of Windows XP SP2 (both preactivated) coming preinstalled with Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1.


Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image 3.0 is available for download here – containing the free versions of Vista and XP.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server and Team Suite VPC Image (Trial) can be grabbed via this link.