Update 9/19/2009: it was good while it lasted but win7 availability is now not guaranteed at ieee or acm, see page 26 onwards for updates.
OK BIG Edit / re-write to cover most of the thread.
As a student you can join the IEEE or ACM to get access to the Microsoft educational alliance software system and get lots of free software. There is lots of stuff including full copies of Windows XP and Windows 7 Profesional.
To Join the IEEE you need to be a student in some science/engineering/IT related filed. (~$30 per year) (there was a cheaper 1/2 year membership but that seems to no longer be on offer)
To join the ACM you need to be a student in an IT related field. (~$19 per year) (thanks to "ANightShopper" for the ACM deal)
A) IEEE specific instructions 1)Go here: http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/students/branchresources/micr... 2) read the instructions instead of posting redudant questiosn here 3) proceed to sign up AS A STUDENT (don't get this wrong and sign up as an ordinary member, you won't get access) 4) After ~3 days you will get confirmation email that you have joined 5) After ~10 days you will get the IEEE MS software access email with the download site address, your user name and password.
B) ACM specific instructions Update: windows 7 MIA with ACM - check page 29 onwards before joining. (thanks to anjam) 1) go here: http://campus.acm.org/public/quickjoin/interim.cfm 2) proceed to sign up AS A STUDENT (don't get this wrong and sign up as an ordinary member, you won't get access) 3) You will need to use a .EDU email address to qualify. Update: ACM have started new security checks: ACM website / FW user: "Lower" said: In order to take advantage of ACM's Student Academic Initiative (SAI) Program, you must verify your student status by providing ACM with the following information: The name of your Faculty Advisor Your Student Identification Number Please click on 'My Student Profile' and complete all the required fields 4) After ~2 days you will get confirmation email that you have joined 5) proceed to the ACM web site. Set up a web account using your username / .edu email address 6) once logged in go to the software page and choose to OPT IN to the MS software program. 7) After ~2 days you will get the ACM MS software access email with the download site address, your user name and password. 8) (from SD) to check if you can "opt-in", log in to "MyACM" and under the "My Services" tab you will find a light blue box saying "Access ACM’s Student Academic Initiative (SAI) Programs: Developer Academic Alliance (formerly MSDN AA), Sun Academic Initiative, and CA Academic Initiative" --- click on "Developer Academic Alliance" link in this box and if ACM has already processed your payment, you will be able to "opt-in" (however, you do not have to wait for the payment processed email ACM will sent you)
C) General Notes to both ACM and IEEE: 1) They mostly have the same software , though ACM has 6 flavors of Windows 7 pro serial numbers. IEEE "only" has 3. (thanks to "ANightShopper" for spotting that Chinese serial numbers are now online) Update: things are changing rapidly, also Spanish keys apearing. read the thread from page ~21 onwards to find out. 2) They have lots more software than XP and Windows 7 (see IEEE list in post below - thanks to "ANightShopper") 3) this is for students, don't go ruining this for the rest of us. Please no reselling, key sharing, or requests for serial numbers on this site. 4) Most of the software downloads are a small .exe application that then downloads the full software as an ISO. To burn an ISO to a CD/DVD there is a free windows porgram you may use called ImageBurn, go to http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download 5) you can sign up for both services and get up to 7 unique widows 7 32/64 bit serial numbers. 6) Office is Not one of the softwares on these sites. To get cheap office for students (~$60) go to http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/ 7) After adding an item of software to your cart and "checking out" with your $0 total you get a list of your "purchases" - you can then click on them to get the serial number and download link.
D) Windows 7 Specific Instructions 1) There are lots of versions of Windows 7 on these sites, some are Beta and RC (Release candidates) do NOT download these, they are time limited and will stop working next year or earlier. 2) you are looking for Windows 7 Pro downloads with or without RTM (Release to manufacturing) in the name. 3) the French 64 bit, English 64 bit, French 32 bit and English 32 bit serial numbers are all interchangeable, so you can use to install multiple copies of e.g. English 32bit (x86). 4) Likewise you only need to download the iso type you need just once, not multiple times once you have a copy, just print out the other serial numbers. 5) if you don't know what 64 bit windows 7 is then it probably isn't for you - do some research if you are really interested. 6) these are full install copies, not upgrades so you can start with a blank HD if you want. Clean installs are always recommended rather than trying to upgrade the Vista install you may already have. 7) There is a disclaimer that you can only install these serial numbers once. (see 8) 8) Since they are Windows 7 pro they have MS system image backup feature enabled. I highly recommend that after you have installed and activated your copy of windows you do a system image backup to an external hard drive and also make a system restore/repair boot disc. Should you ever need to reinstall or replace a bad HD you can reinstall from the image without having to activate again. 9) MS has a windows 7 upgrade advisor that can tell you if anything in your system is not compatible with windows 7 - use it BEFORE you install. 10) You can not use a Windows 7 Pro serial number to install Ultimate.
E) Other Software of Interest 1) Windows XP - You may as well get a few copies of windows XP before it is discontinued. Always handy for older/slower PC's. or Even for use in virtual environments. Versions before sp3 can of course be upgraded to sp3 by using windows update. 2) MapPoint 2009 European Maps (x86) and DVD MapPoint 2009 North American Maps (x86) DVD - for maps even without an internet connection (!). If you have a Serial/USB/Bluetooth GPS for your PC then you can use this as a navigation tool too. 3) Office FrontPage 2003 - for writing simple (bad) web pages. 4) OneNote 2007 - may be handy for writting notes. 5) Visio Professional 2007 - is ok for doing drawings (floor plans, simple CAD type desings, line ilustrations. It is NOT a painting program though)
completing said: You can get it for free in your department.
Yes, but not all universities make it easy for students to get the software. Many universities may not have Windows 7 pro yet. Many students do online degrees and live 100's of miles from their "university".
nemi_amd said: completing said: You can get it for free in your department.
Yes, but not all universities make it easy for students to get the software. Many universities may not have Windows 7 pro yet. Many students do online degrees and live 100's of miles from their "university". use VPN then
My school does not have free versions for students, only faculty. They aren't even selling Windows 7. Green for OP.
EDIT: To clarify. I checked with the MSDNAA administrator for the IT department and he told me that students need to purchase licenses from the University Bookstore.
Bullhonkie
Member
posted: Aug. 14, 2009 @ 2:54p
Does this still work if you're not in any science/engineering type courses?
Nice deal, especially for the price. That said, the Win 7 release candidate (build 7100) is stable and is out there for free and won't expire until the middle of 2010. For those who don't want to jump through all the hoops or don't have the right credentials for this deal, or who want Windows 7 Ultimate, there will likely be other offers in the pipe (similar to the red box ultimate steal version of Vista that's for sale right now).
nemi_amd said: This is a follow up to an old thread that I can not find (apologies to that OP, it was a great posting).
If you are a student in some course that is related to the IEEE (such as Engineering, IT, Science) then you can join their student membership (~$16 for 1/2 year, ~$30 for full year) and have free access to Microsoft educational alliance software.
That's $15 in US till Aug. 15, which is tomorrow.
Currently Available Software for IEEE MSDNAA Members .NET Framework 1.1 SDK .NET Micro Framework SDK Access 2003 Access 2003 (Español) Access 2003 (Francais) Access 2003 (Italian) Access 2007 Access 2007 (Francais) Access 2007 (Japanese) BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Developer Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD BizTalk Server 2009 Developer Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English) BizTalk Server 2009 Enterprise Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English) BizTalk Server 2009 standard Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English) CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 Commerce Server 2007 Developer Edition Compute Cluster Pack Compute Cluster Pack SDK Customer Care Framework 2008 (v3.0) - CD Desktop Optimization Pack 2007 Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition Exchange Server 2007 with SP1 Enterprise and Standard Editions (x64) - DVD (English) Exchange Server 2010 Beta (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage) Expression Blend Expression Blend 2 Expression Blend 2 (French) Expression Blend 2 (Italian) Expression Design 2 Expression Design 2 (French) Expression Design 2 (Italian) Expression Encoder 2 Expression Encoder 2 (French) Expression Encoder 2 (Italian) Expression Media 2 Expression Media 2 (French) Expression Media 2 (Italian) Expression Studio Expression Studio (Japanese) Expression Studio (Spanish) Expression Studio 2 Expression Studio 2 (French) Expression Studio 2 (Italian) Expression Studio 2 (Japanese) Expression Studio 3 (x86) - DVD (English) Expression Web Expression Web 2 Expression Web 2 (French) Expression Web 2 (Italian) Forefront Client Security (x86 and x64) - CD Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD (Japanese) Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 2 (x64) - CD (Japanese) Forefront Server Security Management Console (x86) - DVD Forefront Server Security Management Console (x86) - DVD (Japanese) Host Integration Server 2006 Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 RC (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage) InfoPath 2003 InfoPath 2007 InfoPath 2007 (Japanese) ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition IT Academy Course: Database Developer IT Academy Course: Web Developer IT Academy Course: Windows Client IT Academy Course: Windows Developer IT Academy Course: Windows Server MapPoint 2009 European Maps (x86) - DVD MapPoint 2009 North American Maps (x86) DVD Microsoft CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 R2 Academic Edition (x86) - (English) Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Academic Edition Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Academic Edition Microsoft Surface SDK 1.0 SP1 Workstation Edition (x86) - (English) MSDN Library - April 2007 (DVD) MSDN Library - December 2006 - (DVD) MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD1 MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD2 MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD3 MSDN Library - October 2001 (Full) MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD1 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD2 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD3 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD (Japanese) MS-DOS 6.0 Office Accounting Professional 2007 Office Accounting Professional 2008 Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 with SP1 Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition (x86) - CD (Japanese) Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Editions (x64) - DVD Office Communicator 2007 (Japanese) Office FrontPage 2003 Office Groove 2007 Office Groove 2007 (Japanese) Office Groove Server 2007 Office Groove Server 2007 (x64) (Japanese) Office PerformancePoint 2007 Management Reporter (x86) - CD (Japanese) Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (x64) - CD (Japanese) Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (x86) - CD (English) Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (x86) - CD (Japanese) Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 Office Project Server 2007 Office Project Server 2007 with SP1 (x86 and x64) - CD (Japanese) Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise Office SharePoint Server 2007 SE and EE with SP1 (x86 and x64) - DVD (Japanese) Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard OneNote 2003 OneNote 2007 OneNote 2007 (Japanese) Project 2007 SP1 Project Professional 2002 (Single-User) Project Professional 2003 Project Professional 2007 Project Professional 2007 (Francais) Project Professional 2007 (Japanese) Project Server 2003 Search Server 2008 (x86 and x64) - CD (Japanese) SharePoint Designer 2007 SharePoint Designer 2007 (Japanese) SQL Server 2000 Developer Edition SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition SQL Server 2000 SP3a SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD1 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD2 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD1 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD2 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - DVD SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition DVD (Japanese) SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD1 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD2 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - DVD SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - DVD SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Itanium - DVD SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition - 32-bit - DVD SQL Server 2008 Developer (x86 and x64) - DVD (English) SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (x86 and x64) - DVD SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (x86 and x64) - DVD (Japanese) Streets & Trips 2009 (x86) - DVD System Center Capacity Planner 2006 with Service Pack 1 System Center Configuration Manager 2007 - DVD System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 - DVD (Multilanguage) System Center Essentials 2007 - DVD System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (x64) - CD System Center Operations Manager 2007 System Center Reporting Manager 2006 System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (x86/x64) - DVD System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (x64) - DVD Systems Management Server 2003 R2 Virtual PC 2004 Virtual PC 2007 Virtual PC 2007 (Japanese) Virtual PC 2007 64bit Virtual PC 2007 64bit (Japanese) Virtual PC for Mac 7.0.2 Visio 2007 SP1 Visio Professional 2002 (Single User) Visio Professional 2003 Visio Professional 2003 (Español) Visio Professional 2007 Visio Professional 2007 (Japanese) Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1 Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1 (Japanese) Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2 Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2 (Japanese) Visual C# 2005 Express Edition Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition Visual J# .NET Visual J# 2005 Express Edition Visual SourceSafe 6.0d Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional - Full Install Visual Studio .NET 2005 Professional - Full Install Visual Studio .NET Academic Student Tools 2003 Visual Studio .NET Academic Teaching Tools 2003 Visual Studio .NET Professional 2002 (Full) (Japanese) Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD1 ISO Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD2 ISO Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Prerequisites ISO Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD1 Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD2 Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition DVD (Japanese) Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD1 Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD2 Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Trial Edition Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD1 Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD2 Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD3 Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition with SP1 Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD (Italian) Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD (Japanese) Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86) - DVD Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD (Japanese) Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 1 (x86) - DVD Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Standard Edition (x86) - DVD Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86) - DVD Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols (x64) - (English) Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x64) - (English) Windows 7 Beta (x86) - DVD Windows 7 Beta (x86) - DVD (Japanese) Windows 7 Debugging Symbols (x86) - (English) Windows 7 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x86) - (English) Windows 7 Language Pack (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage) Windows 7 Language Pack (x86) - DVD (Multilanguage) Windows 7 Professional (x64) - DVD (English) Windows 7 Professional (x86) - DVD (English) Windows 7 RC Language Pack (x86) - DVD (Multilanguage) Windows 7 Ultimate RC (x64) - DVD Windows 7 Ultimate RC (x86) - DVD Windows Embedded CE 6.0 DVD Windows Embedded Standard 2009 Academic Edition (x86) - (DVD) Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition (Español) Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1 (Japanese) Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2 (Japanese) Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition Windows Server 2003 Web Edition Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD (Francais) Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD (Japanese) Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64bit - DVD Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64Bit - DVD (Japanese) Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP1 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP1 (x64) Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD (Japanese) Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD with SP1 Windows Vista Business CD1 Windows Vista Business CD2 Windows Vista Business CD3 Windows Vista Business CD4 Windows Vista Business CD5 Windows Vista Business DVD Windows Vista Business DVD (Japanese) Windows Vista Business DVD with SP1 Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x64) - DVD Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x64) - DVD (Spanish) Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x86) - DVD Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x86) - DVD (Spanish) Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (32bit, 64bit) - DVD Windows Vista SP2 (x86) - CD (Multilanguage) Windows Web Server 2008 - DVD Windows Web Server 2008 - DVD (Japanese) Windows Web Server 2008 (x64) - DVD (Japanese) Windows Web Server 2008 64Bit - DVD Windows XP Embedded Windows XP Professional (Single User) Windows XP Professional (Single User) 64bit Edition Windows XP Professional (Single User) 64bit Edition (Japanese) Windows XP Professional (Single User) ISO Image (Español) Windows XP Professional (Single User) ISO Image (Japanese) Windows XP Professional with SP1a (Single User) ISO Image Windows XP Professional with SP2 (Single User) ISO Image Windows XP Professional with SP2 (Single User) ISO Image (Japanese) Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Single User) ISO Image Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Single User) ISO Image (French) Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Single User) ISO Image (Japanese) Windows XP Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English) XNA Creators Club Online Academic Subscription XNA Game Studio 3.0
dillongeo said: are there any restrictions on using these softwares?Not available for commercial use. You can't resell it, use it for commercial purposes, and anything you develop on it must not be made commercially available. There are a lot of unenforced additional requirements for MSDNAA software. Read the licenses!
Warning - the serial numbers may only work once, so do yourself a favor and image your install using the built in Microsoft system wide image/back-up to an external drive for safekeeping.
Is this pretty self explanatory once you get in Win 7? How big of a file does this create?
Students at LSU can currently download Win XP and Win Vista free for home or campus use. For Windows 7 Enterprise, the LSU software site says: "We are expecting to have Windows 7 on October 22, 2009."
Presumably it will also be free for students and faculty.
dirkdigles said: So - I'm graduated from college but my girlfriend is a senior ... she's in a biology-related program ... will there be any issues signing her up ??? I'm confused as to whether there is actual verification of your courseload or not. Is there?go to acm.org
JonesBeach said: Nice deal, especially for the price. That said, the Win 7 release candidate (build 7100) is stable and is out there for free and won't expire until the middle of 2010.
Yes, but Microsoft will shut down updates on all their RC's once Windows 7 goes retail. Any Windows OS w/o regular security patches and updates, makes a very dangerous environment.
Just checked my department's MSDN, I thought it didn't have it since it didn't appear in the main page of the software, but I did a search and it came up. Thanks!
Okay call me dumb but I can't find the MS section to download this stuff. I am a student and just pay the $15 membership fee. Anyway someone can help me? Thanks in advance.
Update: Okay it looks like they will send another email with the Username and Password to: http://msdn04.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Home.aspx?campus=ieee_cs_r9
corduroy said: Anyone have a clue as to how much it is to join as a professional?Lazy to click the OP? BTW, pro. will not get the software.
blankhorizons
Member
posted: Aug. 14, 2009 @ 7:17p
Agent9 said: My school does not have free versions for students, only faculty. They aren't even selling Windows 7. Green for OP.
EDIT: To clarify. I checked with the MSDNAA administrator for the IT department and he told me that students need to purchase licenses from the University Bookstore.
That's too bad. I am an MSDNAA administrator and it is certainly available for our students when I enable it, which will be before the Fall semester begins.
mav14 said: You need the upgrade version of the install dvd to do that. I wouldn't recommend doing an (in place) upgrade though. It'll cause you more headaches down the road. If you use your computer often, its worth the effort to set everything up from scratch. Basically, do it right the first time around vs taking the easy route and having to fix it again later.
Btw, what you said about your Windows 7 install over XP - it sounds like you did a clean install of Windows 7 but you did not format your hard drive.
Right, I meant to say I did NOT format my hard drive, and I do want toi start from scratch.
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