The Xilinx SW has a free edition called webpack that works for the lower end devices (basically it will cover all of these starter boards) and it includes all the SW you need, including a simulator.
Interestingly I didn't see the Ultra96 board listed - http://zedboard.org/product/ultra96 - This is the next-gen Zynq, which has A53's plus a load more features, plus it part of the 96boards initiative. I had a chance to play with one briefly and was very impressed. It also can run the PYNQ environment, which combines the power of the FPGA with Python very seamlessly - so gives the possibility of custom built HW offload/processing and interfacing directly in python.
Thanks. I see the WebPack download requires registration - does that mean manual approval after you sign something in blood or just making an account on their site?
I believe it's just an account and immediate download - I did it so long ago I can't remember. Either way there's no way you'd be refused access as it's intended be a free to use version so I can't imagine any approval being required.
See Sir_Substance's problems with getting approved for something from LatticeCube because he's in Australia below. Mind, different vendor, but since I'm in Eastern Europe I had to ask.
Interestingly I didn't see the Ultra96 board listed - http://zedboard.org/product/ultra96 - This is the next-gen Zynq, which has A53's plus a load more features, plus it part of the 96boards initiative. I had a chance to play with one briefly and was very impressed. It also can run the PYNQ environment, which combines the power of the FPGA with Python very seamlessly - so gives the possibility of custom built HW offload/processing and interfacing directly in python.