What are the differences between Visual Studio Community Edition (FREE) and the Express Editions?

If you are a developer working on Microsoft (or perhaps Linux since Microsoft is open-sourcing its .NET Core) platform, it is likely that you would have heard Microsoft releasing a rich featured edition of Visual Studio at absolutely ZERO cost. The new edition of the FREE Visual Studio is the Community Edition.

So what are the differences between the new Visual Studio Community Edition and the usual Express Editions? Before I begin, I would like to state that the Community Edition is in fact a Professional Edition but re-packaged and distributed at NO cost. The two main differences between Visual Studio Community Edition and the Express Editions are:

1. Visual Studio Express Editions do not allow users to use extensions (aka. plugins).
2. Visual Studio Express Editions are targeting specific platforms e.g. Web, Windows and Windows Desktop apps.

Download Microsoft Visual Studio now!