Look! Microsoft for… free?!

It’s actually a really nice program which let’s computer fanatics or developers get in touch with Microsoft development suites. It is of course a step they are enforced to take since a lot of excellent free open source products are available. 
The website states it’s for all students but when you look at the suites offered, it’s obvious this is for computer science related studies. Who else would actually download Visual Studio ? (some students interested in technology, yes… but still)   

Anyway I don’t want to criticize this offer so… Enough said

The website mentions the following:

DreamSpark is simple, it’s all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology – or just get a head start on your career. 
Who can get this right now? 
We are kicking this off in 11 countries/regions, giving DreamSpark to millions of students in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. If you are not residing in one of the countries listed keep checking back, we will be adding more countries throughout the year. 
Does that mean that I might not get in? 
Possibly, if you are not residing in one of the countries listed, not attending an accredited university or not a member of one of the student organizations that we’re connected with. But keep checking back, as we’re working on adding more ways to verify your student status all the time. 
What do I have to do to get this software? Not much really, just select a product and follow the steps below.

 
• Sign In with your Windows Live ID. If you don’t have one, go get one here. Pretty basic stuff.

 

• Get verified as a student. The system is linked to schools and organizations around the world that can confirm student status. Simply choose your country and school, enter your info and hit submit.

 

• Download your products. Now remember these are professional tools. This means they are pretty big files so make sure you have the bandwidth and space to bring them to your machine. We support the latest versions of both Internet Explorer and Firefox for your download