Microsoft Announces New Simpler Product Lineup for Visual Studio 2015

Microsoft has announced the new model for Visual Studio editions which includes combining the Ultimate and Premium editions into a single less expensive Enterprise Edition.

Microsoft announced on their Visual Studio blog the product model for the upcoming Visual Studio 2015 development tools.  The big news is that they are combining the Ultimate Edition and Premium Edition into a single SKU called Enterprise and lowering the price from the painfully expensive Ultimate version.

The sole new offering being introduced, Visual Studio Enterprise with MSDN, will be priced at $5,999 new and $2,569 renewal in the Microsoft Store online and directly through VisualStudio.com (and MSDN Call Centers). Customers purchasing through Microsoft Volume Licensing programs typically see significant discounts compared with this direct (retail) pricing.

With planned promotions, we expect most customers who purchase through Volume Licensing to see prices for Visual Studio Enterprise with MSDN equal to current pricing for Visual Studio Premium with MSDN on new or renewing agreements through December 31, 2015.

There are no price changes for current paid offerings that remain in the Visual Studio 2015 lineup:

• Visual Studio Professional
• Visual Studio Professional with MSDN
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server User CAL
• Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Device CAL
• Visual Studio Test Professional with MSDN
• MSDN Platforms

Key features of Visual Studio will be more broadly available across the 2015 product set. For example, CodeLens – a feature previously available only in Visual Studio Ultimate – will now be provided as part of Visual Studio Professional and above. PowerPoint storyboarding will be provided for free to Community, Professional, and Enterprise users.