How microsoft earn money if it let us use free visual basic ?

I registered with Microsoft and used their visual basic express edition 2005 as free (genuine , but not demo , is full version)......So , How microsoft corporation earn money if it let us use free visual basic express edition fully ? any experienced programmer can answer me ?

How microsoft earn money if it let us use free visual basic ?
Microsoft earns money in either one of the two ways:


1) Let you download for FREE a lite version (not all features are available) so in the future you will need to buy a full-featured version.


2) Let you download for FREE a full featured trial version that you can try for the next 60 days (could be 90 days). After 60 days the software locks up and you will need to buy a new full version.





Since you downloaded Visual Basic Express, it only has like 10% of the features from a full version VB.





Microsoft is a company and if they do ever give out freebies, it is very, very rare and far in between. Most of the items they give out for "free" is just a marketing strategy for them to attract more users and buyers.





Offering free download of software is one so that when you use their software and need more, then you buy from them not redo everything in another software.
Reply:Microsoft makes money on MS Office, Windows, Vista, etc... not to mention the Xbox, Zune, etc...
Reply:visual basic express isn't their only product. Microsoft has tons of products that make them vast amounts of money. So they can afford to give out a few free products to people.