MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) is a Microsoft program available
to academic organizations, mainly colleges and universities, although
there is also a high school version. The participating schools pay an
annual fee for the MSDNAA service, in exchange for which, applicable
departments (computer science, computer engineering, information
technology, and related fields of that organization) as well as students
and faculty can acquire licensed copies of Microsoft software such as
Microsoft Windows, Visual Studio and other products. The list of
software each college and university gets is dependent on the agreements
made by that particular organization. The software can be used in coursework and personal non-commercial projects. Students may continue to use these products for non-commercial purposes, even after the y graduate[1]. Even after graduation students may receive all free updates to the software, such as security updates and service packs, that are available to everyone through the [Microsoft Downloads Center]. MSDNAA software is accessed through a dedicated website run either by e-academy or by the university/high school itself. The service run by e-academy is called e-academy License Management System or ELMS. Access is determined by the MSDNAA agreement, but is usually given to students who meet certain requirements (must be currently enrolled in or teaching course(s) in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. |  |