After hearing objections from developers, Microsoft will offer a version of its Visual Studio Express 2012 package for desktop application development after all.
The company had previously announced that Express 2012 editions, which are free, platform-specific versions of the Visual Studio 2012 IDE, would be limited to Windows 8 Metro-style development as well as development for the Windows Azure cloud platform, Windows Phone, and Web applications. Metro is the new tablet-style look and feel planned for the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.
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Microsoft Extends Visual Studio Express 2012 to Desktop Apps | PCWorld