4 ms·
> Visual Studio was always paid software. But in 2014 MS introduced the Community Edition. Visual Studio has had a free Express edition since 2005. The only di
by slavik81 9y ago
> Visual Studio was always paid software. But in 2014 MS introduced the Community Edition.
Visual Studio has had a free Express edition since 2005. The only difference I ever noticed between it and the Pro version was the lack of plugin support. They modified the license slightly and called their new free version the Community edition, but not much has changed.
- pjmlp 9y agoCommunity is much more than the former express versions, it is the Pro version with another license.
- slavik81 9y agoWas there something missing that was important for .Net developers? For C++, there was practically no difference aside from the aforementioned plugin support. It's long been the case that businesses buy the pro version and hobbyists use the free one. Now it's because of license restrictions rather than because of missing features, but the end result is basically the same.
- pjmlp 9y agoYes, for starters you would need to install separately one express version per language and workflow. Meaning something like Express C++, Express C# Desktop, Express C# Web development. Then many plugins for SQL, GUI design, static code analysis, debugging were not available. Even C++ had language features not enabled on Express versions, and if I recall correctly it did only 32bit code generation.