Hello,
I have been an independent AX developer for 18 years now, starting with Damgaard Axapta 2.1 and (still) working for several Dynamics partners (and also directly for clients) with versions up to AX2012R3. I've done one or the other AX2012 setup myself and with every new AX version, I've been using the demo machine images for getting up to speed with new features environments etc. It's just the way I learn best and fastest, i.e. "on/with my own stuff" and enough time for trial and error and tinkering with things.
I've been on a 2-day workshop for D365Op beginning of 2017, though, to get a guided basic idea (which was on pre-prepared machines).
The real question: Is there a way to get the current D365 Operations/AX version "for cheap" as a pure dev/testing/learning playground ?[Absolutely legally, of course and beyond a 30-day-trial].
I have tried to make sense of Microsoft's licensing jungle i.e. the options how I can actually get them, but information -in my opinion- is vague and/or contradictory or I am just too dumb to see through it all. Even though I find my way around setups and configurations, I consciously chose to become a developer, not an administrator/IT manager/support staff.
And yes, the partners I work with would/do give me access to D365 dev VMs, but 1. naturally they would not really want me to work on these for my own, uh, pleasure and enjoyment (let alone other clients) and 2. I want a machine fully under my control, not at the mercy of some client's/partner's employed administrator but independent from them all. Preferably I would like to install locally and not incur any additional running costs for online services etc. (apart from subscription and my own infrastructure costs, obviously).
It goes without saying I want it strictly for self use, not to work on client projects.
Can I get away with an Action Pack subscription for $475 / year? That's an amount I can live with.
This document https://assets.microsoft.com/en-us/mpn-maps-software-iur-license-table.pdf suggests it contains the D365 Plan 1 which I believe would be everything I need for what I have in mind.
I appreciate any useful replies, I apologize in case I have posted to the wrong group/forum.