Hey smartass, I'm well aware of who the student edition is and is not
intended for.  Furthermore, I don't think anyone mentioned they wanted to
develope for .Net for free or try to use .Net for free.  You're close to
saying I want 2003 for free (i.e. get a free ride) which I don't necessarily
want:  I want the bugs in the 2002 version fixed so it's usable and it's my
understanding the bugs don't exist in 2003..  Several bugs require you to
close VS.Net down and restart it if you wish to continue working (the
properties window tends to disappear after you compile a windows applicaiton
for example, only way I know to bring it back is to close studio down and
restart it then I can continue working).  Up until recently, there was no
way to fix the bugs.  I've asked about VS .Net 2003 edition from people I
know, trust and use it.  They claim functionality wise, there is very little
difference between 2002 and 2003 (intellisense seems to pop up here and
there more often, but that's abotu it according to them).  However, all the
bugs I've found in 2002 (which they've verified they experienced as well
when they used it) don't exist in 2003 edition.  When I posted the original
message that started this thread, there was no mention of a SP1, beta or
otherwise, becomming available.  Shortly after starting this thread, it was
announced a beta for 2002 edition SP1 was out.  I have since obtained it and
I can say it's fixed all my bugs, so far anyway.   My post was a reflection
of the fact that a beta didn't exists and, per my understanding, 2003
edition was basically a bug fix for 2002 and that's all it is.  Now MS is
releasing a SP1 for the 2002 edition and all appears to be well.

Lay off the sauce and look around.  Everyone isn't a freeloader.  We just
want the software we purchased to function correctly and not have to go out
and buy a bug fix which is masquerading (spelling?) as a new product i.e. VS
.Net 2003.

Chris Smith