MSDN Academic Alliance

MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) is a Microsoft program available to academic organizations, mainly colleges and universities, although there is also a high school version. The participating schools pay an annual fee for the MSDNAA service, in exchange for which, applicable departments (computer science, computer engineering, information technology, and related fields of that organization) as well as students and faculty can acquire licensed copies of Microsoft software such as Microsoft Windows, Visual Studio and other products. The list of software each college and university gets is dependent on the agreements made by that particular organization.

The software can be used in coursework and personal non-commercial projects. Students may continue to use these products for non-commercial purposes, even after they graduate^[1]. Even after graduation students may receive all free updates to the software, such as security updates and service packs, that are available to everyone through the Microsoft Downloads Center.^{[citation needed]}

MSDNAA software is accessed through a dedicated website run either by e-academy or by the university/high school itself. The service run by e-academy is called e-academy License Management System or ELMS. Access is determined by the MSDNAA agreement, but is usually given to students who meet certain requirements (must be currently enrolled in or teaching course(s) in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics).

Despite its name, an MSDNAA account is not a true MSDN Subscription-account and cannot be used to access the subscriber's section of the MSDN website or its downloads.

Software Available

Among others, the list of available software contains:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (all editions)
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (all editions)
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 (all editions)
• Windows Server (2003, 2008, 2008 R2 - Standard, Enterprise)
• Windows 7 (Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate)
• Windows Vista (Business and Enterprise)
• Windows XP (Professional)
• MS-DOS (6.0 and 6.22)
• Microsoft Exchange Server (2007, 2010)
• Microsoft Expression Studio (1, 2, 3, 4)
• Microsoft SQL Server (2005, 2008, 2008 R2 - all editions)
• Microsoft Access (2003, 2007, 2010)
• Microsoft OneNote (2007, 2010)
• Microsoft Project (2007, 2010)
• Microsoft Visio (2007, 2010)
• Hyper-V

The list actually contains almost all Microsoft software, and majority of products is available in all existing editions and languages. Notable exceptions are:

• Desktop Windows (non-server) are not available in all editions (e.g. Ultimate edition is usually not available in MSDNAA).
• From Office suite are only Access, Visio, Project, OneNote and Groove available, while Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook aren't.

References

1. ^ "MSDN Academic Alliance Student Use Agreement". Microsoft Corporation. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/academic/bb250622.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 

See also

• Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)
• DreamSpark
• Open Source University Meetup
• Secure Download Cabinet
• MAKEN PV EI KULE SATASTA PS. VILJAMIN VELI TEKI TÄMÄN

External links

• MSDN Academic Alliance Homepage
• MSDN AA End User License Agreement (EULA)
• Search for schools participating in the MSDNAA
• e-academy Inc.

Microsoft portal