Come sapete inizialmente le versioni Express di Visual Studio erano state annunciate come gratuite fino a Novembre 2006, e' di oggi l'annuncio che tale vincolo e' stato rimosso e quindi le versioni Express saranno gratuite per sempre.
Cito dalle FAQ delle versioni Express.

How much will these products cost?

Effective April 19th, 2006, all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are free permanently. This pricing covers all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions including Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual J#, and Visual Web Developer as well as all localized versions of Visual Studio Express.
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition has always been and will continue to be a free download.