Microsoft's DreamSpark program will now be accessible to high school students. It was originally only available to university students.
With DreamSpark, students can download professional-level development tools at no cost. Tools include SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Since the program became available to university students last year, students have downloaded from it nearly 2 million times.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in a statement: "Today, despite the economic crisis, it's as important as ever to focus on investing in innovation so we can continue to make real progress in solving big problems and creating social and economic opportunity. ...It's vital that we support efforts to provide children with access to a high-quality education and adults with access to ongoing technology skills training."
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