Computer people / ISV I need MS software for our business (help!)

[mattsk42]

We are a small software developer looking to get into a program where we get Office, Windows, and any number of early releases and development tools/programs.

There is a thing called Bizspark and "Action Pack". We would like this, but with a lot more license keys. (around 25 of each office and Windows) It's for developers so MSDN stuff would be good.

At minimum, how can we get these cheap, and what does it take?

[Selta]

You should look into a TechNet subscription. Just $300 I think for a new subscription and you get almost all MS products with 10 keys that activate 10 times each (I've used all of them before, and you just go onto a chat and ask for more and they'll assign you more keys too). For dev/testing use only usually.

[mattsk42]

Wow, yeah that's more or less what we're looking for. What is required to be able to get it going? Are there any business size or age requirements? We're not very big. It says something about 1 year usage. Does that mean we'd lose stuff after a year and have to start over, or can we continue using after a year and just pay another 300? Thank you!

[MJ5150]

Anyone can sign up. The licenses are perpetual for that product. At the end of the year, you lose access to TechNet, but anything you downloaded and installed will continue to work fine. They give you a break on renewals.

You can also sign up as a developer and get the access for free, but the compromise is you have to make your source code accessible to MS. That concerns some people given the history MS has of snatching up fledgling software apps and rebranding them as a MS product.

-Mike

[Selta]

I'm just an individual and have had it. I no longer do, and haven't for about 18 months now. I'm going to re-subscribe in the next few months, just not sure when yet.
You don't lose your licenses or anything like that when your subscription expires. You do lose the ability to get additional licenses and download the media, though, so you'll want to make sure you have it all. I have a text file with all of my generated licenses on it, and I also have all of the ISOs saved on my NAS.
The renewal cost I think is only $200. You'll want to look into how it works for sure, as I'm not sure if you'll need a TechNet subscription for each user or not. One company I worked for shared a subscription with the entire IT department, another had individual subscriptions for people who'd use it.
Here's a page on it that should get you more information. I can try to answer any other questions you have too of course:
TechNet Subscriptions: TechNet subscribers get TechNet downloads and product keys, support, and more | Subscribe to TechNet Subscriptions

[mattsk42]

Thank you thank you. Just what I was wondering.

We are a software developer for police depts. and sheriff's offices. We buy and install all hardware (and set up) but only so that they can run our Law Enforcmnt data software. Do we have to "be" an IT company more than that, or will that work?

[MJ5150]

That works. Anyone who ponies up the $300 can have a subscription.

-Mike

[fdeck]

Are you already wedded to MSDN, or are you just starting out? It's worth looking into free tools. In my view, Python keeps looking better and better.

[mattsk42]

We use Visual studio among other things, and need Office 2010 and Windows 7.

Would we get all of that with a MSDN subscription? I don't really understand the difference between that and Technet.