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Last week, Microsoft offered free downloads of Visual Studio 2005 Express for one whole year, which is until Nov 6, 2006. On the same week Sun Microsystems offered Sun Developer Network members two free fully-licensed IDEs namely Java Studio Creator ($99 value) and Java Studio Enterprise ($1,895 value)! This was announced in JavaOne Tokyo. Joining Sun Developer Network is free as well so I seized the opportunity to get a hands-on experience with these Java IDEs.

If only Microsoft would release Visual Studio 2005 Team System for free, that would be amazing. But it is very unlikely to happen. Right now the only free IDE from Microsoft is the Express editions of Visual Studio 2005. You have to pay the license for higher-tier editions. Sun’s offering is way too generous that they have given away two IDEs costing about $2000! If you’re a Java developer, download the IDEs now. If you’re studying Java, like me, then you should never let these free tools pass you by.

To learn more about Sun’s free Java tools, visit Sun Developer Network website.

Links:
Sun Developer Network
Visual Studio 2005 Product Line Overview
Sun, Java, Visual Studio, .NET