[Someone1234]

Visual Studio has been effectively free for almost ten years with the Express Editions launching in 2005 (which can be used for commercial purposes).

The only thing that has really changed is that Microsoft has re-merged all of the individual Express Editions into one coherent [free] product, and they have enabled things like Visual Studio Extensions.

The biggest "problem" I have with the free versions is lack of Microsoft unit testing. Aside from the differences aren't that great (and I have Visual Studio Ultimate at work, and I still rarely notice the differences).

As to what their USP will be: I would imagine that it works on Mac and Linux. It is cross-platform, so it works on all three of the major OSs unlike Visual Studio (but somewhat like Sublime).