While we're not particularly used to hearing the words "free" and "Microsoft" in the same sentence, the software behemoth does offer a number of free utilities for download on its website. For example, there's SyncToy, Power Toys for XP, and Photo Story. Now Microsoft is also offering free downloads of its commercial developer tools. The only catch? You need to be a student in college or graduate school.

The programs available include:

• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
• SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
• Expression Studio
• XNA Game Studio 2.0
• XNA Creators Club Online

Students can download full versions of these applications. They aren't limited versions of the full software like Microsoft Accounting Express. The promotion, which Microsoft is calling DreamSpark is available to any student no matter what their area of study. But right now the deal is only good in 11 countries: the US, UK, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Belgium.

You'll need a Windows Live ID to participate. And Microsoft will take steps to verify that you're really a student, so you need to enter the name of the school or institution that can confirm your status before you can download your program.

[via TechCrunch]