As well as getting a BizSpark subscription recently, I also got a Microsoft Expression subscription as part of my ticket for ReMix08 in Brighton in September. Tucked away in the subscription was a licence for Parallels. That's cool, and I'm using it. But then recently Parallels 4.0 came out, and it costs money to upgrade.

Ho-hum, version 3 seems fine, but wait, hang on, there's a free upgrade for people who bought Parallels since September. Does my Expression subscription qualify, especially as it was kind of a freebie with the ReMix ticket? Well, if you don't ask, you don't get. So I asked. The asking page said to send a proof of purchase, so I sent a screenshot of my ReMix confirmation email, hoping that would be enough.

The lovely Maria emailed me back, saying that I needed to send a proof of purchase and to ask which version I had purchase. I told her about the subscription from ReMix, and she, oh yes, replied with a licence key. Bless her.

Anyway, I'm yet to download and install it, but I thought I'd let you know, in case you were at ReMix, or have recently bought a subscription containing Parallels, and would like a free upgrade to 4.0.

I came across the BizSpark programme a few weeks ago, and it is super. What happens is, is that Microsoft want to help small new software development companies get going, and are providing free(ish) licenses for practically everything. The requirements for qualification are that your company:

• Is in the business of software development
• Is privately held
• Has been in business for less than 3 years, and
• Has less than US $1 million in annual revenue.

There are some slight conditions around the definitions, but I applied, as I thought I would qualify with MatchMatix. I turned out that I did qualify, and so I now have three years of MSDN subscription, and (from memory) I pay about $100 after three years. I believe you get one licence per employee, up to a maximum of 24 people.

So I have very excitedly downloaded Vista Ultimate, Office Ultimate, SQL Server 2008 and Expression Studio. There are other things that I could download if I were interested, such as Sharepoint, Dynamics, Windows 3.1, Visio, Project and so much else. Thank you Microsoft!

I rather enjoyed this animated way of explaining how pointers work. And don't.