Visual Studio and Crystal Reports

Crystal Reports has probably the most complex branding history among software products. Originally created by Crystal Services Inc., it was acquired by Seagate Technology followed by Business Objects and is currently owned by SAP.

Microsoft bundled it with Visual Studio versions 2003 through 2008. Although it is not integrated with Visual Studio 2010, it is available as a free download. It is called "SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010".

One of the benefits of "SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010" listed on the download page is "Simplified royalty-free runtime licensing". Clicking on the "Licensing Explained" under the Additional Resources page opens up a 22-page PDF.

The fine-print for the asterix next to the exhortation to "Upgrade Directly to SAP Crystal Reports" reads:
SAP Crystal Reports can open and edit files created with SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010 (and vice-versa), providing a fuller set of report design features compared to SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010. SAP Crystal Reports does not include tooling to support the Visual Studio 2010 development environment but developers can use the SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010 runtime engine to deploy SAP Crystal Reports RPT files with all the extended design features.

Now does that mean SAP Crystal Reports is better or SAP Crystal Reports, version for Visual Studio 2010?

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