Does anyone know the MSDN licensing rules around upgrade from visual studio 2008 to visual studio 2010 if I were to buy VS 2008 now?
I will not be able to get budget for the 2010 one too, but I have heard there are software assurances in place if you have MSDN subscriptions.
I will not be able to get an MSDN subscription, so is there a way of upgrading for free when vs 2010 comes out in March next year?
"Software Assurance" is a Microsoft program for "Enterprise" and "Select" volume licensees, and it allows you to get free upgrades for the software until the end of the Software Assurance contract (which is usually 2 years). But unless you are at a company that purchases lots of Microsoft software and already has a Volume Agreement with them, you will not be able to get the Software Assurance.
I don't know of any other program that allows you to get free upgrades for the next version. Visual Studio 2010 is expected to be released in a couple months--can you wait until then for your purchase?
If I were you I'd wait until VS2010 is released (March 22 2010) before I bought anything.
You can use the VS2010 beta 2 to get things up and running until then.
The beta even includes a "go-live" license so you can deploy your product immediately, if you're really desperate.
Sounds too good to be true... but look at WebSpark from Microsoft if you are an independent developer. Free MSDN for 3 years if you meet certain criteria.
For businesses try BizSpark.
And of course trials are for 90 days if you haven't already trialed out 2008. But VS2010 won't quite be out by then, but its good to know.