Story: Microsoft offers free developer tools to students

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Not necessarily..

Its true that knowledge of microsoft tools is essential in the workplace but that's basic knowledge, i.e. the Windows OS environment, Word, Access, Excel.
In terms of programming tools, the business landscape is changing, a typical job description might require skills in; SAP, Oracle, MySQL, Lotus Notes, Ruby On Wheels or PHP.
Most businesses, especially small to mid-size prefer to buy off-the-shelf applications, therefore your C++ skills are hardly ever required.

Perhaps Microsoft see this trend and that's why they're trying to get the workers of tomorrow used to their apps.

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