VSTS Evaluation Packages

Free Evaluation Downloads

Microsoft supply the following VSTS evaluation packages which you can freely download from the MSDN website:

• TFS Trial Edition – a fully functional version of Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite and Team Foundation Server which your team can use for a 180 day trial period. An existing MSDN subscription is not required, but allow yourself at least half a day to complete the installation.
• Team System Virtual PC - a fully functional version of Team Suite + TFS product which can be run for a 180 day trial period on any PC that supports the freely available Microsoft Virtual PC. You will need an existing MSDN subscription to access the download, but the virtual machine file it contains has all the required software pre-installed and ready to go.

If you want to use VSTS for developing production software then you must get the commercial version of the product, typically this involves buying a MSDN subscription. However, ensure you’re familiar with the Licensing issues before making your purchase.

Installing the TFS Trial Edition

The TFS Trail Edition is supplied as an .iso disk image file(s) so you must use an application such as Roxio Easy Media Creator to burn the installation DVDs. You can then install the product in your Software Project Environment in the same way you would using DVDs supplied with your MSDN Premium Subscription:

You can install the client tier of Visual Studio Team System on the same Windows Server 2003 PC as the server tiers (data, application) for the purpose of evaluating the product. However, when a team is using VSTS to develop production software you should install the client software on each developer's PCs as shown in the Hardware Setup.

Installing Team System Virtual PC

The Team System Virtual PC is supplied as a self-extracting executable file. It can be used to provide an evaluation version of the product on a compatible PC as follows:

• Extract the Team System Virtual PC - download the self-extracting file and then run it to copy its contents into a convenient location on your hard disk
• Install Microsoft Virtual PC - download the installation program from the Microsoft support website, extract it to a temporary location on your hard disk and then run its Setup.exe
• Create the Virtual Machine - open the Virtual PC Console and use its New Virtual Machine Wizard to add an existing machine. i.e. the TFS Virtual Machine file extracted above.
• Use your Team System Virtual PC - Start the Team System Virtual PC, logon and then connect to your Team Foundation Server using Visual Studio 2005

We recommend you install the Team System Virtual PC on a machine running Windows XP Pro (or Windows 2000 Pro) with at least 50GB of free hard disk space, 2GB RAM and a 2.0GHz processor (or greater).