Aiming to reach a larger audience of software developers, Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced slimmed-down “Express” editions of its Visual Studio developer tool for specific programming languages.

Microsoft Wednesday said that an entry-level edition of its Visual Studio tools will remain free and available for use without restrictions for developers. Microsoft initially offered Visual Studio ...

Previously, these packages were limited to Metro, Azure, Windows Phone, and the Web, but developer pressure has led to Microsoft offering a desktop version After hearing objections from developers, ...