Visual Studio 2011 LightSwitch (Includes Software Assurance) (English)

Visual Studio 2011 LightSwitch is a simplified integrated development environment (IDE) for individual developers to build business applications. Once completed, LightSwitch applications can be deployed to Windows desktop clients, browser clients, or the cloud without requiring any extra coding. LightSwitch's included templates and components for common business applications allow developers to create applications without writing code. This product could be helpful for organizations with users who don't have much coding knowledge but need to create applications with custom business logic and rules.

Note: Some organizations might not need to request this product. Licensed users of Visual Studio 2010 products that include a subscription to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) can obtain LightSwitch for free from the MSDN website.

Development Tools
LightSwitch's wizards and tools walk developers through designing screens or forms, applying themes, and specifying data sources. LightSwitch applications can pull data from SQL Server, SQL Azure, and SharePoint and also from Oracle and other third-party databases. LightSwitch applications natively support exporting data to Excel for sharing and reporting.

Users can download prebuilt application shells known as LightSwitch Starter Kits to give applications the look and feel of typical Microsoft software. LightSwitch Starter Kits are available for common business applications such as expense and time trackers, status reports, performance reviews, and customer service.

Though advanced coding skills are not required, developers who use LightSwitch can choose to program in either Visual Basic or Visual C#. They can also open LightSwitch projects with Visual Studio Professional, Premium, or Ultimate if they need more advanced development tools or languages.

Other Editions of Visual Studio
See this table for a comparison of Visual Studio LightSwitch and Visual Studio Professional. For organizations that do not need the full functionality of Visual Studio, Microsoft offers free, downloadable Express editions of Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, and Visual Web Developer.

Acquiring the Installation Media and License Key
Installing this product requires installation media and a license key.  The license allows you to use the installation media to install the product on as many computers as you have received donations for. This quantity is specified in the donation email sent to your organization email address after your eligibility has been verified and your administrative fee has been received. A separate email will give you information about obtaining your license key.

Software Assurance
Under the Software Assurance program, you have the right to install any new release of products covered in the agreement during the term of your coverage.