11月7日正式發布Visual Studio 2005后，微軟隨即算定將其Express Edition提供一年的免費下載！
以下是微軟網頁上對價格的說明：
10. How much will these products cost?
We are announcing a pricing promotion for Visual Studio Express – for the first year after the products launch on November 7th, 2005, customers will be able to visit MSDN to download their copy of Visual Studio Express for free!**
Our customers are very excited about the release of these products, so this limited-time download is our gift to the hobbyist, student, and novice community – we’re excited to see the amazing applications they’ll build!
Note that SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is also a free download. The free pricing for SQL Server Express is not limited to the same one-year promotional period as Visual Studio Express.
[**We plan to launch the non-English versions of the Express products sometime within 2-3 months after the English version launches on November 7th. The same pricing promotion will apply to these products, and will remain in effect for one full year after their respective availabilities.]
11. You said “free for one year” — what does that mean, exactly? Will you be charging for this later?
We originally announced pricing of Visual Studio Express at US$49. We are now offering Visual Studio Express for free, as a limited-in-time promotional offer, until November 6, 2006. Note that we are also offering SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a free download, and that this offer is not limited to the same promotional pricing period as Visual Studio Express.
12. Do customers who acquire the Visual Studio Express products during the free promotional pricing period have to pay after the first year if they want to continue to use them?
No, as long as you download Visual Studio Express on or before November 7th 2006, you will not have to pay for it.
從中我們可以看到，一年的免費下載并沒有將使用限制在這一年內，用戶只要是在2006年11月7日前下載的都可以永久免費使用。另外其他語言版本的Express Edition也會相繼推出，并使用同樣的價格策略，一年的免費期會從相應的發布日期開始計算。
下載:Visual Web Developer
下載:Visual Basic
下載:Visual C#
下載:Visual C++
下載:Visual J#
下載:SQL Server Express
Visual Studio Express 主頁
直接下載（官方地址）：
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition （449,848 KB）
http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/C/B/0CB7A5FA-23E2-4E12-9040-C80C1E3446A3/WEB.img
Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition（445,282 KB）
http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/4/3/A43EFABE-4899-4D8E-92F0-BACD3BB34533/VB.img
Visual C# 2005 Express Edition（445,282 KB）
http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/B/7/FB752D3F-1351-4556-B1E1-C16615D09D59/VCS.img
Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition（474,686 KB）
http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/4/3/0434C5AF-8FB5-4D64-B8D8-E9BDF3C83152/VC.img
Visual J# 2005 Express Edition（448,702 KB）
http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/0/D/C0DEABCF-4697-4EDA-916A-C998B1BD3A1C/VJS.img
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/1/0/f10c4f60-630e-4153-bd53-c3010e4c513b/SQLEXPR.EXE