Alexander’s Blog

My students are always asking me where to get the evaluation copies of various Microsoft products. I’ve put together a list of some of the latest software evaluation downloads. My goal is to try and keep this list updated but frankly it is going to be challenging because Microsoft is known for changing the URLs without any redirection. Here is a list of either free or trial editions of some of the popular Microsoft products. A typical Microsoft evaluation software includes a 180-day trial but some are limited to 60 or 90 days.

1. Exchange Server 2010 (120-Day Trial)
2. Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 (180-day Trial)
3. Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 (180-day Trial)
4. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (180-Day Trial)
5. Office Professional Plus 2010 (60-day Trial)
6. Project Professional 2010 (60-day Trial)
7. SharePoint Foundation 2010 (Free)
8. SharePoint Server 2010 (180-day Trail)
9. Small Business Server 2008 (60-day Trial)
10. SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (180-day Trial)
11. SQL Server 2008 R2 (180-day Trial)
12. System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 (180-day Trial)
13. System Center Essentials 2010 (180-day Trial)
14. System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (180-day Trial)
15. Visio Premium 2010 (60-day Trial)
16. Windows 7 Enterprise (90-day Trial)
17. Windows Server 2008 R2 (180-day Trial)

WARNING! I should warn you that sometimes when you download a trial software you may think that you are opting out of receiving phone calls and e-mails from Microsoft but you are not. For more information read my blog post: When Microsoft Says No, It May Mean Yes.

Microsoft offers more free products to consumers than any software manufacturer I know. And I am not talking about free evaluation software, I am talking about free tools, utilities and various products and services. Besides software, Microsoft offers these free TechNet and MSDN labs. These are a series of guided, hands-on labs which can be completed in 90 minutes or less. SharePoint Foundation 2010, which I included in the above list for convenience, is a free product from Microsoft. In the past, it was known as Windows SharePoint Services (WSS).

Last Updated: May 27, 2011