>Hi Bob,
>
>Would you mind elaborating on this "program MS had going"? What did I miss out on? Did you have to buy something first? I can't believe anybody gives anything away for free - especially a Pocket PC!

Hi Mike,

The offer was to anyone who had Visual Studio 2003 installed. To qualify, you registered your copy of VS and sent your proof of purchase (either VS or MSDN subscription) in to the company handling the offer for Microsoft. I picked up the info on the offer from a post in the VFP section of UT and registered my MSDN VS2003 on 6/18, the offer expired on 6/30. As you can see, it took quite a while to get the PPC but it was well worth the wait.

As for why, here's a clip from the FAQ section of the offer website:

Q. Why is Microsoft giving away Pocket PCs?

A. Microsoft believes that developers are vital to driving success for the mobile industry. In addition to providing a comprehensive platform and tools with Visual Studio .NET 2003, Microsoft will boost the development market by providing developers with ViewSonic V37 Pocket PC devices.


As for "free", it was free in the sense that I didn't fork out any more cash than I already had for my MSDN Universal Subscription.

Regards,