Frequently Asked Questions

The Express Editions are an expansion of the Visual Studio and SQL Server product line to include lightweight, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn tools for hobbyists, students, and novice developers who want to build dynamic Windows applications, Web sites, and Web services. The Express products consist of:

• Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, a lightweight tool for building dynamic Web sites and Web services
• Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, and Visual J# 2005 Express Edition, targeted programming tools for students and hobbyists who wish to learn the fundamentals of Windows programming
• SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, a database for building data-driven applications

• Learn how to program using a streamlined, lightweight development environment with built-in tutorial content.
• Create fun and cool applications, such as controlling your house using X10, programming an LCD panel or GPS device, navigating and playing music from your Windows Media Player music library, or learning how to build your first DirectX Game.
• Evaluate the .NET Framework for Windows and Web development.

For more information about the registration process, refer to the Express Benefits of Registration Web page, as well as the Registration FAQ.

Visual Studio Express Edition is designed for the novice and student. Visual Studio Professional Edition is recommend for commercial usage.

Express Edition products are designed for hobbyists, students, and novice developers. As such, they lack the full breadth of features found in higher-end Visual Studio and SQL Server Editions. They are designed specifically for scenarios common to the hobbyist, student, and novice developer. Each Express Edition includes targeted documentation that will help the beginning programmer quickly learn the concepts required to build more advanced applications. The user interfaces are significantly streamlined to ensure that extraneous features do not interfere with the learning process. If you later decide that you do need additional features available in the higher-end editions of Visual Studio and SQL Server, you can seamlessly upgrade your code and skills.

We have created a Web site with content and drill-down information on the product line at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/.

SQL Server Express is covered under standard Microsoft support policies and will receive no-charge basic install and set up support. For assistance with other questions, please use the following support options:

• We have created Express Edition Forums where you can get help from other people using the Express Editions, including Microsoft product team members.
• You can access paid professional support over phone or e-mail.
• If your organization has Premier support contracts, you can use those for assistance with VS express products.

The MSDN Express Library contains additional product documentation and code samples for all Visual Studio Express Editions.

The MSDN 2005 Express Edition Library is available as an optional component in the Visual Studio Express installers. If you choose to install the MSDN Express Library at a later time, you will need to rerun the Express installers to add the MSDN Express Library. There is no separate download available for the MSDN Express Library.

Please report bugs or suggestions to the MSDN Product Feedback Center.

We're working with many different partners and people in the community to produce additional Starter Kits. You can find the list of Starter Kits on each product page.

• Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Starter Kits
• Visual Basic 2005 Express Starter Kits
• Visual C# 2005 Express Starter Kits
• Visual C++ 2005 Express Starter Kits
• Visual J# 2005 Express Starter Kits
• SQL Server 2005 Express Starter Kits

Effective April 19th, 2006, all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are free permanently. This pricing covers all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions including Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual J#, and Visual Web Developer as well as all localized versions of Visual Studio Express.

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition has always been and will continue to be a free download.

Previously, we announced that Visual Studio Express would be available for a promotional price of one year. We have now extended that period so that all the Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition products will be free permanently.

No, Visual Studio Express is free for everyone.

You will need to download and install additional components. Please see the Visual Studio Developer Center for more information.

No, each release of Visual Studio is tied to a specific version of the .NET Framework. The Express Editions can only be used to create applications that run on the .NET Framework 2.0.

Generally speaking, yes. Please note that there have been some API changes between the betas and the official release, so you may have to make some updates to your code accordingly.

Yes, side-by-side compatibility with other versions of Visual Studio has been tested.

You can find a full list of system requirements in the Visual Studio Express Editions Readme.

Absolutely. Express is a great entry point to professional software development, and Microsoft is committed to helping you "graduate" to higher-end products should you need them. Projects you create with an Express Edition will easily migrate to higher-end Visual Studio 2005 projects.

You can find a list of backwards breaking changes from .NET Framework 1.1 to .NET Framework 2.0 available at the .NET Framework Developer Center.

If the automated installer doesn't work for you, or if you want to download an Express Edition to burn to a CD for installation on another machine, see Manual Installation Instructions.

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express is a stand-alone, lightweight, easy-to-use Web-focused tool for building ASP.NET 2.0 applications. It includes everything you need to begin building Web applications, including fully functional Starter Kit applications and a built-in development/test Web server.

Visual Web Developer Express is intended for non-professional, hobbyist, and beginning Web developers who want to evaluate or learn how to build ASP.NET 2.0 Web applications.

You can build Web applications and Web services using Visual Web Developer Express.

For questions on ASP.NET 2.0, please visit the ASP.NET Forum. For questions about Visual Web Developer Express, visit the Express Editions Forums.

Visual Web Developer Express and Visual InterDev are unrelated products, but address similar markets. Visual Web Developer Express is a member of the Visual Studio 2005 family and is designed exclusively for building Web applications and Web services. Previous users of Visual InterDev should find the streamlined interface of Visual Web Developer Express appealing.

ASP.NET Web Matrix is an unsupported tool released to help ASP.NET evaluators, hobbyists, and enthusiasts get started building Web applications. Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, on the other hand, is a member of the Visual Studio 2005 family. Most of the lessons learned, feedback, and top features from Web Matrix were integrated into Visual Web Developer 2005 Express during development, including many additional levels of features and functionality. If you liked ASP.NET Web Matrix, then we think you’ll love Visual Web Developer Express!

No. Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, like Visual Studio 2005, is designed to target the 2.0 version of the .NET Framework and ASP.NET. Version 2.0 includes lots of great new functionality to make it easier to build dynamic Web sites.

Yes. ASP.NET 1.1 and ASP.NET 2.0 can be run side-by-side on the same machine. You can easily control which applications and virtual roots target a certain version of the framework.

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express supports development with Visual Basic and C#. Visual Web Developer Express also includes rich editors for HTML and XML.

No. Visual Web Developer 2005 Express comes with a built-in Web development server that enables you to build and test applications without a dependency on IIS. The server only accepts local requests and is only for build and test. Web applications built with Visual Web Developer can easily be deployed to IIS or your favorite hoster using the built-in copy Web tool.

Visit http://www.vwdhosting.net to sign up for your free 30-day, no obligation, ASP.NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005 web hosting account from Microsoft. For more great hosting offers please visit http://www.asp.net/hosters/v2/.

When you open a Visual Studio .NET 2003 Web project in Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, the project is converted to the new, simpler project layout used with Visual Studio 2005. The conversion process also converts existing .aspx pages, .ascx files and other files into a new format. For example, .aspx pages are converted to use the new code-behind model. You can therefore work with existing projects using Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, but the conversion process is one-way and you will not be able to continue to work with them in Visual Studio .NET 2003. Note that the conversion process creates a backup of your project before the conversion begins.

Absolutely. The Web site layout and file formats are 100 percent compatible between Visual Web Developer 2005 Express and Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition.

Visual Basic 2005 Express is designed for hobbyists, first-time developers, and students looking for a fun and easy way to build Windows applications.

Visual Basic 2005 Express can be used to build Windows applications, consoles (sometimes referred to as "command line applications") and reusable components. If you want to create interactive Web sites, you should use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition which fully supports the Visual Basic language.

Visual Basic Express includes a migration wizard that will help import existing Visual Basic 6.0 projects. You may need to make some manual adjustments to the code you port over, but the migration wizard is a good first step towards moving your code forward.

The Express products are not officially supported. But you may find help by posting your question in the Express Edition Forums.

Visual C# 2005 Express is intended for hobbyists, students, and novices developing Windows applications.

Visual C# 2005 Express can be used to build Windows applications, consoles (sometimes referred to as "command line applications"), and reusable components. If you want to create interactive Web sites, you should use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition which fully supports the Visual C# language.

The Express products are not officially supported. But you may find help by posting your question in the Express Edition Forums.

Yes, Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition includes the same core optimizing compiler that will be included with all other Visual Studio 2005 editions. Some new expanded optimization features, including Profile Guided Optimizations, will be available only in the Professional and above editions of Visual Studio 2005.

With Visual C++ 2005 Express you can build both native and managed applications. Using the .NET Framework you can easily create Windows Forms, console, and class library applications. By downloading the Windows Platform SDK (freely available) you can build applications that take full advantage of the Win32 API. Web developers should use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition.

No, MFC and ATL are not included with Visual C++ 2005 Express. MFC and ATL will be included in all other Visual Studio 2005 Editions.

There currently aren't any full-fledged Starter Kits for Visual C++ 2005 Express. However, Visual C++ Express can be used to build many existing C++ projects. Additionally, sample code and documentation are included with Visual C++ Express.

Visual J# 2005 Express Edition can be used to build Windows applications, consoles (sometimes referred to as "command line applications"), and reusable components.

Visual J# Express has been built with the student and hobbyist in mind. Visual J# Express includes many of the same features found in the Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition, but is simplified to make it easier to get started with application development. Some ways you might use Visual J# 2005 Express include:

• Learn Java-language application development. Visual J# enables users to use the Java language while also gaining full access to the Microsoft .NET Framework class libraries.
• Study for the Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) exam. Visual J# Express meets 100 percent of the requirements for the AP CS curriculum.
• Build cool and fun projects. Visual J# Express allows you to create fully functional Windows-based applications, and includes the Visual Forms Designer that has made Visual Studio popular for years. Just drag-and-drop forms elements into place and double-click to write code!

The Express products are not officially supported. But you may find help by posting your question in the Express Edition Forums.

SQL Server 2005 Express is a easy-to-use and free-to-download version of SQL Server 2005 that is designed for building simple, data-driven applications.

Based on positive feedback from customers and partners surrounding the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE), Microsoft made the decision to provide similar capabilities for SQL Server 2005. Microsoft is committed to enabling developers to build robust and reliable data-driven applications.

SQL Server Express is free to download. For ISVs, SQL Server Express is also free to redistribute (registration required).

SQL Server Express is a lightweight version of SQL Server 2005 that includes all of the functionality of the SQL Server 2005 database engine. Reporting Services plus a free and easy-to-use management tool, SQL Server Management Studio Express Edition are available in the SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services download. More details about features are at the main SQL Server 2005 Express online Web page.

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services is a download that includes the SQL Server 2005 database engine, SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express and Full-Text Search. SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express will also be available separately as a download.

SQL Server Express is designed to meet the needs of simple applications. It is limited to using 1 CPU and up to 1GB RAM, with a 4GB maximum database size. SQL Server Express does not include any of the advanced components of SQL Server including Analysis Services, Reporting Services, Data Transformation Services, and Notification Services.

SQL Server Express is an evolution of MSDE that continues to make the features and functionality of SQL Server technology widely available. SQL Server Express includes enhancements to setup and manageability to make it easier to use than MSDE. SQL Server Express also utilizes simpler and more scalable performance limits as compared with MSDE which managed throughput with a workload governor.

SQL Server 2005 Express will replace MSDE.

The name MSDE was confusing to customers and partners because many did not realize that it was associated with SQL Server. By changing the name from MSDE to SQL Server Express there will be less confusion among customers and partners.

Yes, existing MSDE databases can be upgraded to SQL Server Express.

You can download Northwind and AdventureWorks sample databases.