Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance

The NDSU Computer Science Department is a member of the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance. The MSDN Academic Alliance program is designed specifically for academic labs, faculty, and students in the curriculum areas of Computer Science, Engineering, and Information Systems to make it easier and less expensive to get Microsoft developer tools, platforms, and servers for instructional and research purposes.

MSDN® Academic Alliance Overview
Program Usage Guidelines
MSDN® Academic Alliance FAQ

Highlights of MSDNAA (or "What's in it for me?")

• Microsoft Operating Systems and Development Software is available for faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students for instructional and not for profit research purposes. Software may be loaded on department, lab or home computers.
  
  Most common/popular software:
  • Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Windows Server 2003 - Standard and Enterprise Editions
  • Windows XP Professional
  • Visio 2002 and Visio 2003
  • Project 2002 and Project 2003
  • Visual Studio 6.0 - Includes Visual Basic, Visual C++ with Visual J++ also available
  • Visual Studio.NET - Includes Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++.NET, Visual C#.NET. Requires Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Both Visual Studio.NET 2002 and Visual Studio.NET 2003 are available
  • Visual FoxPro 7.0 and Visual FoxPro 8.0
  • SQL Server 2000
  • See Software Product Descriptions for summary information on included products.
  • For a complete listing of included products - including SDKs and betas - please see the Academic Alliance area of the packing list information.
    
  
  
• Eligibility:
  Besides department owned computers used by professors, lecturers, teaching assistants and research assistants, any graduate or undergraduate student taking at least one Computer Science department course for credit is allowed to install included software on a home/personal computer.



• How do I get the software?
  Go to the online software request system. You will be asked to enter your NDSU Electronic ID and password. Your ID will be checked against a database of students currently enrolled in a Computer Science class. If you are eligible, you will be given a list of the most popular software to choose to request. When the software is available for you to check out, an e-mail will be sent and you can pick the software up at the front desk of the Computer Science Department - IACC 258. You will need to show your student ID and also sign a check out sheet.
  
  You will be expected to return the software within 3 school days. This is polite behavior since other students may be on a waiting list for the software.
  
  
• What's NOT included?
  Microsoft Office products - Word, Excel, PowerPoint - as well as FrontPage are NOT included in this program. Products from other companies are not included such as Dreamweaver, Flash, Adobe Acrobat (full version).