Free Visual Studio Express until Nov. 7, 2006

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=126606&SiteID=1
Microsoft has made the Visual Studio 2005 Express editions free for one year!
From the above link are links available to download:
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express
Visual Basic 2005 Express
Visual C# 2005 Express
Visual C++ 2005 Express
Visual J# 2005 Express
SQL Server Express

Download them before November 7, 2006, and they're free to use forever.