Is the ex-Microsoft SLP Code Protector still available and usable?

Question

I want to use SLP Code Protector to make decompilation of a .NET application harder. I don't want licensing functionality, just the offline code protection it offers.

I know it is now owned by InishTech but I'm hoping to obtain just the Code Protector via Microsoft as suggested in this article from Visual Studio magazine

The code protector is just one part of Microsoft's SLP vision. The code protector is free to use, and it will be included with Visual Studio.

Is Microsoft's SLP Code Protector still available and if so, how would I use in in Visual Studio?

Answer 1

http://www.microsoft.com/slps/ -->

InishTech has assumed full responsibility for the existing customer base, 
and acquired the rights to SLP Services. To ensure a smooth transition 
for SLP Services customers, Microsoft will continue to offer SLP Services 
support until   September 24, 2009.

It is now InishTech. You can learn more about the solutions they offer here: http://www.inishtech.com/

Answer 2

Disclaimer: I work for InishTech.

Unfortunately Microsoft stopped shipping the software in 2008 as stated in @Nathan Tornquist's answer (+1'd). Note that if you did have a version stashed from that time, it is frozen in time with all that implies. You'd hence find a significant number of problems which have since been resolved:

• the 'generic' permutation included was not per-customer and hence only recommended for use in evaluations of SLPS. Normal recommended use of Code Protector requires a licensed 'Permutation' specific to a customer, which requires a subscription to the service - this has always been the case even when Microsoft provided the product - it was only 'free' in the sense that an MSDN subscription included a basic SLPS subscription.
• the installation process circa 2008 was tricky to get right (and provides no way to run your code if you do not have an elevated installation process in order to write to the registry. Given that you only want the Code Protection that would be a significant encumberance)
• There was no Visual Studio integration of any kind
• Restrictions on use of generics in code to be protected, running in x64 processes, running under CLR v4 would sooner or later become an issue for you
• There have been a significant number of non-headline improvements to one's ability to diagnose runtime issues

The bottom line is that even though it may be technically and/or legally possible, it really would be a bad investment of your time to attempt to do so given the amount of enhancements, performance tuning (both at runtime and in terms of time to transform code) and bugfixes that have been added since that time.

The current process (which no longer involves an SDK installation, relying instead on an InishTech-provided NuGet feed/packages and fully integrates with Visual Studio or Build Server driven builds) is outlined on http://docs.softwarepotential.com in the Getting Started with Code Protection article.