Microsoft curries favor with undergrads
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft hopes to win over software developers while they're still young. Microsoft on Thursday released software development tools aimed at college-level computer science students, in an effort to produce a fresh crop of software programmers loyal to its Windows and .Net technology.
Michael Bronsdon, Microsoft's lead product manager for academic developer marketing, said that Visual Studio.Net Academic is the company's first offering that specifically targets students and teachers. The software maker, which competes against Sun Microsystems, IBM and other Java supporters for talent, is offering its tools at a heavy discount to students and schools in hopes of enticing more--and younger--people to use its technology.