Visual Studio

Microsoft Visual Studio is a complete set of development tools for building ASP.NET Web applications, XML Web services, desktop and mobile applications. It provides developers with enhanced functionality across a wide range of areas allowing developers to build richer, more powerful applications in less time.

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With a single fully integrated development environment for all types of development including Windows, Office, Web, and Mobile applications, Visual Studio provides a wealth of benefit to the developer:

A comprehensive tools platform – Visual Studio offers productive developer tools for customers of all stripes, from the novice programmer to the experienced enterprise development team. With Visual Studio, developers enjoy comprehensive tools that offer a development experience tailored for their unique needs
Reduced development complexity – Visual Studio enables customers to more easily deliver a broad range of .NET Framework-based solutions, including Windows, Office, Web, and mobile applications
Improved team collaboration – Visual Studio Team System offers productive and integrated lifecycle tools that increase communication and collaboration amongst development teams.

Microsoft ships four different ‘levels’ of products in Visual Studio 2005

The Express products
Lightweight, easy to use, easy to learn tools for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and students who want to learn how program or evaluate the .NET Framework
Visual Studio Standard Edition
This is the entry-point developer tools for professionals looking for a more streamlined experience and the ability to create robust client/server applications using the .NET Framework
Visual Studio Professional Edition
The professional developer tool is for programmers who are building
mission- critical,multi-tier smart client, Web, and mobile applications
Visual Studio Team System
This productive, integrated lifecycle tool helps teams to communicate and collaborate more effectively as they deliver modern, service-oriented solutions on the .NET framework.

MSDN Subscriptions for Visual Studio

The best way to get Visual Studio is via a Microsoft MSDN Subscription. An essential resource for IT professionals planning, implementing and supporting Microsoft solutions, it is a personal library of Microsoft software, knowledge base articles, service packs, security updates, resource kits and technical guidance.

How do I sell it?

As well as the incredible cost saving compared to purchasing Visual Studio and software licences individually, an MSDN subscription includes:

Continuous access to upgrades to your subscription software and new releases and product betas, in addition to resources such as software and hardware development kits and service packs
Latest Microsoft Operating Systems. Usage rights are limited to development and testing only
Broad range of the latest Microsoft Windows Server System products. Usage rights are limited to development and testing only
Latest Microsoft productivity applications. In addition to development and testing use rights, one installation of Office Professional 2003 may be used for general business use. Visio Standard and Project Standard may also be used for general business use related to development and test
Technical support includes unlimited usage of MSDN Managed Newsgroups for online support, phone-based support incidents, and free access to MSDN Online Concierge for non-technical questions regarding navigation of the MSDN site, Knowledge Base article searches, and MSDN Subscriber Downloads.