Note: This post is number Four in a series of posts about Microsoft’s MSDN. Take a look at some of the other posts in this series and learn even more about the MSDN web site giant designed by developers for developers.
MSDN Developer Centers
The primary purpose of the MSDN web site is to provide developers with up to date information on how to develop applications for the Microsoft platforms. If your even a slight bit familiar with developing applications, you already know that there are about as many ways to develop applications for Microsoft platforms as there are Microsoft Millionaires (ok, probably not that many, but there are a lot). There is Windows, Web, Office, Server and Database development. You also have the Windows client and mobile tools and the ASP.Net or Silverlight platforms. And you can’t forget the .Net platform and it’s numerous languages and API’s. 
It’s enough to make your head spin thinking about it. So, what is a developer to do? How do new Developers get started? Where do experts go to get up to date information? I think the answer lies in the “Developer Center” section of the MSDN web site.
Developer Centers is an approach that Microsoft has taken to help seasoned and new developers find up-to-date and relevant MSDN information based on their particular development bent or preference. Think of it as a way of slicing up the information found on MSDN into different views or angles, giving the user access to…
“ …content and resources around specific products and technologies. They connect you to code samples, community sites, technical articles and documentation, upcoming events, and much more.”
Most of the commonly used Developer Centers can be found through links directly on the MSDN home page. They've broken then down into sections to help you find the right center for your needs. There are sections for Developer Tools and Languages (VB, C++, C#, etc), Windows and Web development, even sections for just Architecture or Data.
When exploring these sections don’t just limit yourself to one, but think about all of the areas that you might develop for and use several of them to broaden your knowledge. You might even use one of them to expand your skills into a new language or technology. In my opinion the developer centers really help reduce a lot of the noise you could encounter when trying to navigate all of the information found on a site like MSDN. You should also make sure you look at all of the Develop Centers, because that list on the main page, is only a small shadow of the many centers available.
Free Developer Software
Ok enough lettuce talk on the developer centers, let’s get into the meat of the sandwich and explore one of the centers that new developers should be aware of The Express Editions (note in Microsoft speak “Express Edition” means the free limited featured versions) WAIT!!!!! don’t tune me out yet just because you saw the words “Limited” and “Feature” in the same sentence. These free products are not your fathers type of free. There is a ton of functionality packed into them and you can do amazing things for relatively free.
This developer center is different than most and is a complete web site on it’s own. From here you can explore the express editions by interest or by product. Are you a Web, Windows, Game, or Hardware developer? Do you want to develop using Visual Basic, C#, C++? Not sure where to start? Try the “Explore by Interest –> Windows” and start learning how to develop applications for Vista or Windows 7. Use this area to help yourself focus on what type of development you would like to pursue. Depending on what type of development you prefer they will direct you to a set of Express Edition software and tools to help you. Then move toward the “Explore by Product” section of the web site and learn about the different editions of Visual Studio.
Finally “Get the Software” by downloading and installing one of the versions of the Express Editions and use the Samples and Resources to give yourself a quick start or Coding4Fun section to find some cool, fun things to write applications for. Wow, There’s a lot out there. I’ll make it a point to write another post on this with more detail.
We’ll I’ve probably wasted another several minutes of your time that will never be recovered. Hopefully you have learned something new and are now better equipped to work and solve problems through simple interactions with the MSDN. Till next time, enjoy the day!
TTYL!