Microsoft Visual Studio

Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs, websites, web apps, web services, and mobile apps.

Visual Studio has three feature tiers: Community, Professional, and Enterprise. Microsoft provides a feature comparison matrix detailing the differences between levels.

How to Get Microsoft Visual Studio

The most basic edition, the Community Edition, is available free of charge from Microsoft.

Students and Faculty can download Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise through Azure for Education for instructional and non-commercial research purposes.

Purchasing a Professional or Enterprise License

• Purchase requires valid UW worktags and authorization from a budget approver.
• No Procurement cards or direct sales to individuals are available.
• Microsoft Visual Studio licenses are available through an annual subscription, with the license period running from June 1 through May 31.
• UW-IT cannot prorate or refund the cost of the Microsoft Visual Studio license subscription
• UW-IT will automatically bill for the Microsoft Visual Studio license in the following license cycle.

License Details

• Only UW faculty and staff are eligible to purchase a license.
• This software can be installed and used on your work and home devices.
• UW-IT’s annual subscription billing is automatic: 
UW-IT will automatically bill your UW funding source for this software subscription in the next license term, which begins every (fiscal) year on June 1.
• Do you need to reassign the license to another person? You can make a reassignment request anytime during the subscription period by going to Manage My Subscriptions and completing the request form to transfer the subscription.
• Should you need to cancel the subscription:
If you decide not to continue with another subscription term, you can stop UW-IT’s automatic billing and cancel the subscription. Canceling means your subscription will end on May 31. Use the Manage My Subscriptions Form, and do so no later than April 1.

Additional Information