[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Microsoft Press' Microsoft Virtual Academy is offering 44 free ebooks on computer matters.

Don't expect these to be dumbed-down books with titles like Windows 10 for Absolute Dummies or Learning How to Use Computers, for the Over-65 Crowd. These free books are ones like IT guys would use to learn from or possibly use as reference tools. They are high-tech stuff.

Are you still with me? Good. Then here's the website where you can go to get any or all of these books, gratis. You'll notice that the ebooks are available in all three of our favorite flavors--PDF, ePub, and mobi for Kindle.

Wondering about the value of these books that Microsoft is giving away right now? You might get a good idea by taking a look at the generally less-technical offerings at The Microsoft Press Store. Just a guesstimate here, but I'd say that the average regular price (they do have specials, and you might be interested in browsing through them or even, as I've done, request their specials newsletter (offers to send you the newsletter are prominently featured on the webpage)) of an ebook there is around $50.

Originally Posted by artig

To get the free ebooks from Microsoft Press MVA it does appear to require membership of the virtual academy. At least I couldn't find any other way of bringing up the download page.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Uh oh. Sorry. Thanks for letting us all know.

Some fellow (an author) gives away a bunch of books about Microsoft software, and a message about that usually makes the rounds every year or two. I haven't seen a message about that recently; I may dig around and see if I can't find that one.

Okay, here are the details of the "catch":
>Member-only offer
Want to download free eBooks?
Free membership to Microsoft Virtual Academy unlocks many benefits, such as:
Extensive library of free Microsoft Press ebooks
Exclusive discounts on Microsoft Press retail books
Unlimited access to free online training on MVA
Ability to manage learning plans on MVA
Access to experts through live Q&A<

It appears that the membership is free, too. I was able to go through the rudimentary process of signing up, without having to pay anything.

Then, I got a webpage that gave me the discount codes to get the books: "Use discount code MVABOOK for print books or MVA-EBOOK for eBooks during chekout." I probably should have, but I didn't try selecting an ebook or book and trying to get through checkout without paying for it, but it looks like using the appropriate discount code will do it.

So, the "long and short" of it appears to be this: you can get the 44 books free, but you've got to sign up for an account. But it, too, is free, except for the submission of an email address and another piece or two of information, as we usually expect. Then, you will get the discount codes to make the "purchase(s)" of what you want.