A similar question has been asked: MSDN subscriptions on the cheap?, but I am not interested in the solutions provided:
- I am not developing a product for sale, I am starting up a consulting company, so Empower is not an option.
- I have visited the links to MS regarding MSDN subscriptions and they do not point to a way to get an inexpensive copy.
- I am not interested in suggestions that I become a MVP. Frankly, I’m desiring to focus on developing my company, not jumping through MS’s hoops.
What you want is the Action Pack: https://partner.microsoft.com/US/40016455.
(Note, as an employee of Microsoft, I apologize that you have to LOG OUT of your LiveID to see this page if that LiveID is not already attached to a Registered Partner.)
You don’t have to be certified to get access to this, just registered (there are three levels of partnership: 1. Registered, 2. Certified, 3. Gold Certified). You do have to pass a fairly simple assessment test, though.
See the pdf referenced at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/40082823 for an overview of the process.
One last thing – if you are a student (I suspect the OP is not), you can get many Microsoft tools free from http://www.dreamspark.com.