Get a free copy of VS2005 Standard from Microsoft

[Lueyen]

http://www.microsoft.com/business/vb2005upgrade/labcasts.mspx

You have to do 2 labcasts which are pretty slick. They can be done live (at a set date and time) or off line (any time you want). They take about an hour, and are pretty informative. The really neat thing is the virtual lab which is essentially a virtual computer in a web browser allowing you to either follow along doing the exercise or on your own after the individual videos.

Afterward you fill out a short survey ect.

While you can download 2005 express for free, Standard edition includes some things express does not, and for two hours of time a free copy of a product that retails at around $300 is hard to beat.

[Naethyn]

I've done a ton of virtual labs through our MSDN subscription program at work. They are top notch! This is a really good deal.