Upgrading from Academic Edition

How do I upgrade from Visual Basic.net 2003 Academic Edition to the normal version so I can use it professionally? Or is it even possible (besides by paying full price for another - ouch!)? Microsofts help pages are of no help - the answer might be found there somewhere, but it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A search doesn't bring it up. Is this such an UNCOMMON thing to want to do? That hardly seems thinkable!

Buy Pro.

I own the 2002 Academic verson, when 2003 came out they stated that the Academic versions were sold as is for $99 to students. Because of the price and the license agreement, you have to purchase Pro at FULL price, not upgrade since the Academic version does not count as a retail purchase.

Even going from 2002 Academic to 2003 Academic would have been the full cost of the 2003 Academic version and no discounts.

It is just there pricing scheme. You have to take into consideration that the Academic versions are 'similar' to the professional version in functionality, but the restrictions and legal restrictions do not allow you to develop and sell professional applications.

The cost of the VB.NET 2003 (and the other ones) individually sell from $99 to $105 depending on where you buy them. Visual Sudio sells for around $799, and Academic sells for only $99 at the schools and has every product in it that Visual Studio has in it. See why they will not upgrade you from a $99 piece of software to a $799 piece of software?

I purchased the full blown Visual Studio 6.0 Professional Retail for only $199 from a store that was just dumping inventory, now I can purchase an upgrade for $499 and have both for a total of $700, so I save $100 and get both versions. Not bad if you ask me, look around, staples, comp usa, best buy, etc, try to find visual studio 6.0 professional for cheap and then go that upgrade path.