Even after reading the rant at http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31468 I was willing to give COLLADA a shot, since I am looking at ways to get character animations out of Max and into our game engine and it looked like the COLLADA exporter + FCOLLADA might save me some time.
But the samples don’t even build out of the box.
And the solution files are not even for the current version of Visual Studio.
For shame.
Please take the time to read the instruction on how to get all the source code you need to build everything. Do not hesitate to ask here, if you have specific question, help on how to build the samples.
Also, please note that most game developers are in a middle of a project rigth now, and therefore still need the previous version of visual studio solution files. The new Visual Studio should have no problem loading those files.
Indeed, its a pity the project doesn’t compile out-of-the-box and requires multiple downloads and configuration and readme’s.
I gathered all necessary files for COLLADA and libxml in my Bullet Physics Library, and it builds out-of-the-box for all platforms. It comes with Visual Studio 6,7,7.1,8/2005 files.
I think I spend too much time reading installation manuals in the past. I prefer just clicking 1 solution file, hitting F5 and let visual studion compile and run the app/library 
Telamon is right, there is a lot denial with the Collide library mantainers.
I think it would be more accepted if the people in charge of the Collada project actually maintain the project.
The package does not build for any version of visual studio.
In my opinion if you decide to use Collada or any other library, the library should comes with everything you need to minimally build it, and collada Dom leaves a lot to be desired on that area.
Posting links to libraries that are using Collada is not right answer, is a confirmation of the equerry.
There are several issues about including all the source needed in the COLLADA package, that I’d be glad to discuss here.
Licensing:
Some of the libraries, have licenses that restrict redistribution, or have license terms that we cannot impose on COLLADA-DOM users. In other words those licenses are way more restrictive that the one used for the COLLADA-DOM, and would impact the whole distribution.
Flexibility
It is possible to build the DOM with, or without some features/libraries. For instance, you can decide not to include/download iconv if you do not agree with the license agreement, or simply do not need the feature.
Installation:
Some developers already have installed libXML for other purpose on their computers, and would hate that they have to install another copy for each package they are downloading.
Update
Not including libXML in the package is a good way to make sure that developers can have the latest version, or/and can update at their own choice.
Maybe you better understand why we have decided not to include those libraries in our distribution. I understand it is extra works on your side, like reading a one page installation guide, but it seems the only way to provide you with control of what licences you accept, where you want those libraries installed, how many copies you want on your computer, and when you want to update those external libraries.
what’s you take on those issues ?
BTW 1 , seems like the problem is soved for you since you can use Erwin’s distribution ? Is that a good solution for you ?
BTW 2, can you explain what you mean by Equerry ?
Definition of Equerry
Eq´uer`ry
n. 1. A large stable or lodge for horses.
2. An officer of princes or nobles, charged with the care of their horses.
Well this is not my fight; I am just a simple user that came here for a Data Exchange Format tool, which is what the official home page advertises. If you fill the library is perfect the way it is, then that is the way it is case closed.
About the problem been solved, actually not is not solved, I came to the Collada home page to get the “Collada Solution” not other Solution that happen to use collada.
If you just use COLLADA-DOM and libxml, there is no restriction to include them in your distribution. Delivering this with a decent build system (working projectfiles for Visual Studio several versions, and an easy way to build under Mac OS X and Linux) just makes life easier for a lot of users. If you want to please those users who don’t want duplicated libxml installations, why don’t you provide two distributions: a ‘core’ and an ‘full’ distribution. We can verify which distribution gets the more downloads, but it is probably the ‘full’!
I think it is an understatement that users just ‘have to read one page’. As a result, you are currenly explaining this here in the COLLADA forum as an addendum to this ‘one page’
In addition to the SVN and the source .zip, COLLADA-DOM is now also available in a self installer that contains all the binaries of the external dependencies needed to build the project.
Follow this link for more information.