Why isn't there a Team Foundation Server Express Edition?

Question

Why isn't there a Team Foundation Server Express Edition?

Answer 1

Almost 3 years and 16 answers later,TFS Express is now a fact.

Answer 2

The Express Editions are specifically designed for individuals who do not have access or, more bluntly, cannot afford the full versions of Visual Studio but who would like to develop in the .NET Framework.

Team Foundation Server on the other hand, is specifically designed for corporations which has software development teams with a number of members. Corporations (nor startups) have never been the target of the Express product.

You can still take advantage of Express editions and collaborative tools by using open source products in conjunction with them, e.g., use Subversion for source control, Cruise Control for continuous integration, etc. They will give you most of what you need and still allow you to use the Express editions in a team environment.

I am not sure, however, if specifically using Express editions in a team environment is a violation of its EULA. Hope not :P

Answer 3

There is an Express version of TFS coming out with Visual Studio 2012:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bharry/archive/2012/02/23/coming-soon-tfs-express.aspx

Answer 4

Because Microsoft is positioning TFS to compete with software like ClearCase, releasing a free edition would undermine that positioning.

Answer 5

If you're looking for the source-control a bug-tracking functionality that TFS provides, there are a number of free products out there that can do it for you like CVS or Subversion if you want something open source. TFS is meant to be used by very large teams, addressing the kinds of problems you have with very large teams - using it for just source control is total overkill.

I prefer Sourcegear's products (they're free for single developers) - Vault if you're just looking for source control, and Vault Professional (previously called "Fortress") if you want source control along with bug and work item tracking, which covers most of TFS's functionality.

Answer 6

Well, it's an interesting question, but the real question is what the usage scenario for such a thing would be?

In particular, I see TFS as focusing heavily on supporting dev teams. (Whether it does a good job of that or not, it's a different matter). Certainly individual developers could benefit from things like the source control facilities in TFS, but it's not clear how a single individual would take advantage of a lot of the functionality in TFS.

And, for pure source control, there are already good alternatives for that already on the market (the way I see it)

Also, it's interesting to note that TFS has some substantial hardware, software and environment requirements that I'm not sure would make it easy for a single individual to host; unless he can spare one machine just to run it (some people do it; I find it a waste of a good machine, myself :)).

And for small teams, there's already TFS WorkGroup Edition, which I guess is as close as MS is going to get to TFS express.

Answer 7

And individuals shouldn't be using TFS?? That's like saying source control is only for groups and not individuals.

If they had an express edition of TFS, then they'd probably get more people using it and paying for their company to use it.

Answer 8

I guess you could say that there is an Express version! Codeplex! Just like the express editions of Visual Studio have certain limitations, you can use Codeplex for free, but you must develop open source.

Answer 9

Doesn't the TFS workgroup edition somewhat fill this 'express' role? 5 users or less and the price is very 'express' when compared to the full 800 pound gorilla.

Answer 10

IBM have a similar product to TFS, Rational Team Concert, and its available for free for a small number of users.

Answer 11

At last Express edition of Team Foundation Server is also available. Check it out here.

Answer 12

No, from memory anything Team Foundation based costs a few times more than the professional versions. That's where Microsoft really makes its money.

Answer 13

The most straightforward answer is that TFS doesn't scale DOWN well enough for it to be worthwhile. TFS is very much aimed at development teams of medium, large, and huge sizes, it's not designed well for very small teams.

Also, on the small scale there are already pretty high quality free, or inexpensive, source control systems available, so it doesn't make much sense for MS to put effort into competing in that area.

I would suggest using SVN with the VisualSVN plug-in if you require source control, which everyone does, on the cheap.

Look at it this way, Visual Studio 2008 Standard is a $250 product. How much of that functionality exists in, say, Visual C# 2008 Express? At least the equivalent of $25 worth? Most likely. At least $10 easily. VSTS 2008 Team Foundation Server is a $2500 product. If they did the same amount of feature reduction to make a TFS Express edition it would be worth $250, which is a bit much to give away for free. More so, a lot of the value of TFS is in its scalability and core feature-set, which is almost impossible to strip away to create a simplified, cheaper product.

Answer 14

I think the reason that Microsoft doesn't have a SQL Server Express version of TFS is because TFS includes SSAS under the covers. I doubt there will ever be an "express" version of SSAS.

Answer 15

Here is the link to download the TFS Express Edition Beta: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads#tfs-express