Visual Basic and Visual C++ are completely different languages.  A
few minutes of research online with your favorite search engine
(e.g. http://www.google.com/ ) will find a lot of hits. That's likely
to lead to better results for you, because just from the above, none
of us can tell what (1) programming language(s) you have experience
with, and (2) what you're trying to accomplish. Providing more
information will lead to better responses -- it's better to err on the
side of too much info.

  Visual C++ Express Ediiton is also free, and can develop quite a
lot. [It doesn't include MFC, which is a *good* thing -- MFC is an
evil bit foisted on people, and should be avoided at all costs.]
Visual C# Express Edition is possibly better suited for some
applications.  Unless you find that you *really* need some features in
the full application, I'd recommend sticking with the Express
Editions, and spending the money on good tutorial books or lots of
time on sites like http://www.codeguru.com/

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates - personal webpage http://www.visi.com/~nathan/ 
# Programmer at Pandemic Studios -- http://www.pandemicstudios.com/
# NOT speaking for Pandemic Studios. "Care not what the neighbors
# think. What are the facts, and to how many decimal places?" -R.A. Heinlein