Re:Hasn't there always been a learning edition? (Score 1)

Yeah, there was a PLE for 4.0 and 4.5, and this version has been available for a few months via the Instant Maya book. Granted, this is the first time you can download PLE 5.0, hence the press release, but yeah, overall it's old news (not to mention a slightly misleading title, since it isn't actually Maya but Maya PLE, which (AFAIK - I've only used the full version) uses a different file format).