Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Express Edition
The Express Edition is available free of charge for both non-commerial and commercial use. However, the license does not allow redistribution.
You can download the Express Edition in one of two ways: An online setup that contains Express Edition but not the prerequisites such as the .NET Framework, DirectX, etc. which are downloaded from the Internet during installation if needed; or an offline setup that is suited for installation when an Internet connection is not available.
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Standard Edition
If you do not subscribe to MSDN, then you can purchase it online. This is the original 2008 version.
NOTE: You must purchase the RDS 2008 Standard Edition and install it before installing the R2 release. The R2 release includes version checking during installation and will not install unless there is an existing 2008 installation.
Once you have RDS 2008 Standard Edition installed, you can download the R2 upgrade from here:
Due to customer demand, both Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Standard Edition and CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 Standard Edition are now available to all MSDN Professional and MSDN Pro and Premium subscribers, which includes BizSpark customers. This enables customers to acquire a simple, per-user license for all the software they need in their development projects, enhancing their investment in MSDN. Subscribers can download the software from:
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Academic Edition
Academic institutions can obtain the Academic Edition (which has the same functionality as Standard Edition) through the MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) and provide it to their students. Please note: The local system administrator must download from MSDNAA and make the software available to students.
It is also available to students directly through ELMS (the online MSDNAA download service) and through DreamSpark if the institution is enrolled. Both secondary and tertiary institutions can enroll in DreamSpark.
Software Quality Metrics
RDS 2008 R2 includes Software Quality Metrics. SQM sends information to Microsoft via the Internet regarding usage of some RDS components to assist with future product planning and development. You must explicitly opt in during installation, or later via the Update and Feedback Options in the Start Menu. If you opt out, no information is sent.
For information about privacy of information sent to Microsoft, please see the Privacy Statement
Documentation Downloads
The RDS documentation is available online in the MSDN Library. The User Guide (Help File) is also included in the package when you install the software.
For the convenience of people who might like to look at the Help File without installing the software, it is available for separate download. You do not need to download this file if you install RDS.
Previously the Class Reference was only available online. Now it is also available for download so that you can refer to it offline.
Documentation downloads (as ZIP files):
NOTE: After downloading these files you might have to unblock them so that you can see the contents of the compressed help files. To do this, right-click on the ZIP file in Windows Explorer, select Properties, and click on the Unblock button. Then you can proceed to unzip the Help file.