How can we write C++ drivers without investing large sums of money

[Smacky311]

I'm interested in started driver development for my own benefit and learning
experience. After digging through the documentation, I found the need for a
"checked" version of Windows Vista to do debugging. Then I discover that as
of Vista (and XP SP3) I need to drop 700 - 10,000 dollars on an MSDN
subscription to gain access to the OS. Being a beginner, I'm not sure how
effective my debugging will be with the "free" (non-checked) version of
windows, but I don't have this kind of money to invest on a learning
experience.

I have been pretty happy with MS and the open-ness they provide for aspiring
people, but this decision creates a real divide between aspiring learners and
huge corporations. How can aspiring driver developers learn to become
professional driver developers without a learning environment? Unless you
all have an alternative, my only choice is to program drivers for old
versions of Windows or jumpship to another OS.

We have SQL for developers, Visual Studio Express, but why don't driver
developers get Windows for developers with a low cost of entry?

[Don Burn]

You do not need the Checked version of the OS to debug drivers. It does
help in some cases (though it is pretty bad with Vista due to a problem
introduced by Microsoft and fixed in Windows 7), but it is not needed. All
you need for development of Windows Device Drivers is the Windows Driver Kit
which is free see http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKpkg.mspx,
and a text editor.

It is old, but take a look at
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/foundation/DrvDev_Intro.mspx for a
decent starting point.

--
Don Burn (MVP, Windows DKD)
Windows Filesystem and Driver Consulting
Website: http://www.windrvr.com
Blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/WinDrvr

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[Ivan Brugiolo [MSFT]]

You do not need a checked version of the operative
system to do any driver development.

All that is required is the WDK
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKpkg.mspx)
and a two computer set-up: one machine as the host,
the second one as the target.

you may also want to post further questions on
microsoft.public.development.device.drivers
where a large community can elaborate on the usefulness
of each and every tool that you MUST, SHOULD and CAN use.

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