VS 2008 vs VS 2008 Express

Question

I'm using Visual Studio Team System 2008 at work to do web development. I've gotten quite used to it but can't really afford to purchase even VS 2008 Standard at this time.

I have never used any of the Express editions before but I was thinking about downloading VS C# Express and VS Web Developer Express.

Am I wasting my time or can I do some serious development with these tools?

Answer 1

Express Editions works fine if you do not want to have different project types/languages in a solution, and you have no need for builtin source control.

Else, it's pretty much the same.

Answer 2

You can do serious development on the express editions. They have taken out a few things most notably the plug in system. If you are use to using a bunch of plug ins you may find that not being able to use them is a deterrent.

Here is a link to a comparison of the express edition and the other editions.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zcbsd3cz(VS.80).aspx

Answer 3

You can indeed do serious development using the Visual Studio 2008 express editions, this includes commercial products see question number 7 in the FAQ which says:

Seven) Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using Visual Studio Express Editions.

The feature matrix shows that whilst you do lose some functionality between the Pro and Express Editions. The single biggest issue being that there is no add-in support (and adding it is forbidden by the EULA) which limits many nice additions to the environment such as ReSharper, VisualAssist, etc.

You also don't get a "Studio" but four individual editions, Web Developer, VB, VC++ and C#, if you wish to mix and match languages/projects in the way that the Standard/Professional Editions support then you are out of luck. Under the surface however, MSBuild is available and can provide you with multi-language solutions.