MSDN Subscription Question for the lone developer

Question

I'm looking to get an MSDN Subscription and I see a number of sites offering 2 year subscriptions versions. Are these sites offering a regular version that I can buy or are they for Software Assurance customers only? I don't want to buy one and find out I cannot activate it because I'm not associated with a company that has SA.

Answer 1

I checked with Microsoft and these subscriptions are genuine.

Answer 2

You may want to check out Microsoft's Empower program for ISVs. I'm not sure if you qualify (I believe you need to be incorporated and developing a commercial product or service), but the cost savings may be worth the hoop jumping. Note that it appears to be ending in May of 2010 (transitioning to another program).

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40011351