Code Unboxing

Do you want to have the latest tools for application development, free training and access to Cloud Service then good news last November 2015 Microsoft launched a program called Visual Studio Dev Essentials program where in they provide great tools for apps development, apps deployment and also some free access to on demand training like Xamarin and Pluralsight. One good thing about this program is that it’s all free you just need to have an Microsoft Account as login credentials then that’s it you are good to go. Today I will discuss on how to join the program and run through some of the tools and services that they currently offer.

JOINING THE PROGRAM

Let’s navigate to their site by clicking this link.

Just click the Join now button and login your Microsoft Account.

After signing in using your Microsoft account you will be navigated to the Main Page of the Visual Studio Dev Essentials. There will be a prompt asking you to accept the terms. Just accept it then you are ready to use all benefits under the said program.

FEATURED

Most of the tools under the featured menu I’m already using like for example the Visual Studio Community which is a free version of Visual Studio Professional for individuals or small teams. Another is the Visual Studio Code which is like your regular code editor like Notepad++. For team projects you can use Visual Studio Team Services to handle your projects like creating and managing of tasks, bugs and work items. If your into Azure or just trying out the cloud platform of Microsoft you can try the Azure tools and which already comes with monthly credits of $25. For Mobile platform you can try the Training on Demand by Xamarin University and a 3 month full subscription from Pluralsight.

TOOLS

Under the Tools menu there are number of available tools for your disposal like the Microsoft SQL Server which is already free for Developer edition. You can also try the HockeyApp for you mobile Apps and try to build VM for your Universal Windows Platform. There are also free subscriptions for Power BI, Office 365 and Parallels Access which you can try also.

EDUCATION

For Education tools I have often used the Microsoft Virtual Academy which is very useful because first of all it is free, always up to date and  instructors are from Microsoft. Another is the MSDN Magazine which you can download soft copy of Microsoft technologies and articles every month. You can also try some tools offered like the WintellectNOW and MSDN Flash Newsletter.

SUPPORT

I haven’t actually used the Support part of the said program but you can try Priority Support or the HackHands it if your stuck at your code or you have an error or you just want to search a particular information.

CONCLUSION

I applaud Microsoft for creating such program because they are helping us in our application development may it be in the form of Tools, Support or Training. So I suggest that you should join and take advantage of Microsoft’s Visual Studio Dev Essentials program.