During Steve Ballmer’s keynote this morning [archive here], he announced that Visual Studio and SQL Server Express 2005 will be available for free for the first year. How are these express versions different from the professional version?

Express Edition products are designed for hobbyists, students, and novice developers. As such, they lack the full breadth of features found in higher-end Visual Studio and SQL Server Editions. They are designed specifically for scenarios common to the hobbyist, student, and novice developer. Each Express Edition includes targeted documentation that will help the beginning programmer quickly learn the concepts required to build more advanced applications.

Download Express versions here.