I believe EXPRESS also doesn't handle web site development the same - options are missing in how you can work that type of project.
I believe the express editions were more than enough for most projects. You can do some real heavy duty lifting without any of the features that were present in the Professional and above editions.
This is from wikipedia - "Visual Web Developer Express lacks certain features, such as the Accessibility Checker, the ability to create standalone class library projects, third-party add-ins and macros."

For web projects in particular the Express edition was hobbled.

I do think Dev Tools should be free when provided by the OS manufacturer, but I'm sure the business structure of Microsoft is a little different, and cannot support such a path.
Have you actually read this thread?

One of the main points in the thread is how MS are now going to be giving there dev tools away for free !!!!

Visual Studio Community 2013 is basically Visual Studio Professional with different licencing conditions!