From TheServerSide.NET, today:
The estimates for the Visual Studio 2005 editions are:
- Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite,
Retail: $10,939/year, Renewal: $4,598/hr- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects,
Retail: $5,469/year, Renewal: $2,299/yr- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers,
Retail: $5,469/year, Renewal: $2,299/hr- Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Testers,
Retail: $5,469/year, Renewal: $2,299/hr- Visual Studio 2005 Professional with MSDN Premium Subscription,
Retail: $2,499/year, Renewal: $1,999/hr- Visual Studio 2005 Professional with MSDN Professional Subscription,
Retail: $1,199/year, Renewal: $799/hr
Yes, of course the "/hr" are typos!
I don't know what the price is for the competing products Microsoft is targeting with VSTS (Rose anybody?). But I think this table must look as a bad joke, even for a profitable American company. Just imagine how it looks from the point of view of a software company in the third world.
Also, I agree with Chris Anderson and others that the way the feature set of the different editions of TS has been chosen seems to be broken. For instance, Architect edition does not contain testing features.
I guess it is the second time I see Microsoft making an expensive product that very few in the world will use. Last time was Content Management Server.
Now it is clear that the challenge for developers in the rest of the world is to become Visual Studio Express editions heroes, or simply to switch to friendlier, free software platforms. While the Express editions will be affordable, you will need to be a very lucky developer to ever smell the Team System in the course of your life.
All I wonder is if this is what Lenn Pryor meant when he wrote "I just couldn't go on being an evangelist for a gospel that I don't believe I can sing." while leaving Microsoft.
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