In the 1980’s Microsoft had products that were affordable; usually $25-$95 for just about anything.
Today, Microsoft forgot about those days of growth and charges outrageous prices: $300-$12,000.
One primary reason Microsoft grew so fast was all the support they offered developers: Dev Days, TechEd, libraries, MSJ, etc. Today, most of that is gone and the content of what is left is nearly useless junk and some of it charged at useless pricing models.
As my wife qualifies for educational pricing, $80 for 4 years on 2 devices is tolerable.