Five Ways to Get Cheap and Free Microsoft Software

Most of us get Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office with our computer systems when we buy our computers and really have no idea how much of the price of a computer system those two pieces of software represent. If you’ve ever went out and tried to buy a copy of windows on your own, you could be out $300.00 depending on what version you buy. Fortunately, there are several ways to get software such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Windows Server for much less than one would normally have to pay in a retail venue.

Here are some ways to get free or highly-discounted Microsoft software:

Bizspark - If you are a small business owner and are worried about the cost of software when getting your business going, there’s a solution for you. Microsoft has launched an initiative called Bizspark which allows small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups to get the software that they need without paying huge licensing costs when they really don’t have any money to pay for them. Under the program, new businesses can get free software for the first three years of their business operations.

DreamSpark - If you’re a student and have an interest in technology, you should checkout Microsoft’s DreamSpark website. This program allows student developers (and other students) to get free copies of Microsoft software development tools, such as Visual Studio, Windows Server and SQL Server. Students can also get free passes to the Microsoft Academy website.

Academic Alliance - If you are involved in Academia in just about any way, you can likely get free or highly discounted prices for software. Microsoft has a program called Academic Alliance that many schools and universities participate in. You can typically get versions of the Windows Operating system, Microsoft Office, and Visual Studio for $10.00.

Upgrade Pricing - If you decide to upgrade to Windows 7 when it’s released later this year, make sure to take advantage of the upgrade pricing. If you already have just about any copy of windows installed on your computer, you can get an upgrade version that’s less than half of what the full retail price would be.

Express Versions & Free Software - Microsoft offers some pieces of software for literally nothing. You can get “express” versions of Microsoft’s software development tools which allow you to do just about everything that the full versions do. There are also a number of tools and utilities that are available for completely free. There’s a blog that’s come up with a complete list of free software tools that Microsoft has released.

Microsoft is concerned with free software tools that are competing with their software. In response, they’ve launched a number of programs such as those above which enable customers that don’t have a lot of money to get free and cheap versions of their software. Not everyone will qualify for them, but many people will. If you do qualify for any of these programs, definitely take advantage of them.