Advise on software purchase

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JimG - 01 Dec 2005 15:07 GMT

I want to purchase a development tool for writing small applications for
personal use. Previously I used VB 3.0 on an NT box, but now I have an XP
box.

I mostly want to write Windows apps, but am intriqued by Web apps too. My
only requirements are that I can interface with MS Access DB easily and that
I can create a runtime EXE.

My priorities are cost - this is for personal use and not as a professional
development tool. I don't want to spend $700, $500, or even $300.

The only choices that I see are:
1) Visual Basic 2003 .Net Standard for around $90
2) Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition for free

Are there other choices?
Which product is better/easier for my needs?

- I'm a VB 3.0 user (C programmer professionally)

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JimG

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Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP] - 01 Dec 2005 15:26 GMT

Since the Express editions are free this year and you are not professional,
start with them:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/default.aspx#pricing

If you find that they are not enough, you can always purchase somethinh
higher later...

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Best regards,

Carlos J. Quintero

MZ-Tools: Productivity add-ins for Visual Studio .NET, VB6, VB5 and VBA
You can code, design and document much faster.
Free resources for add-in developers:
http://www.mztools.com

>I want to purchase a development tool for writing small applications for
> personal use. Previously I used VB 3.0 on an NT box, but now I have an XP
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> - I'm a VB 3.0 user (C programmer professionally)

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JimG - 01 Dec 2005 15:56 GMT

It's only free for 1 year -- after that, I probably have to buy a $600+
product.
Will software from Visual Studio 2005 Express be compatable with other
products like Visual Basic 2003 .Net?

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JimG

> Since the Express editions are free this year and you are not professional,
> start with them:
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> >
> > - I'm a VB 3.0 user (C programmer professionally)

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Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP] - 01 Dec 2005 16:21 GMT

Hi Jim,

No, it is free forever as long as you download it during this promotional
year. See question #12:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/default.aspx#pricing

Generally VB 2005 code is not backwards compatible with VB 2003, or at least
it depends on what .NET Framework classes and methods you use.

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> It's only free for 1 year -- after that, I probably have to buy a $600+
> product.
> Will software from Visual Studio 2005 Express be compatable with other
> products like Visual Basic 2003 .Net?

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Kevin Spencer - 01 Dec 2005 17:47 GMT

Hi Jim,

If you're used to C, you might want to think about learning C#.

As to what product to get, go ahead and get Visual Studio 2005 Express
Edition. While you don't want to spend any money now, you may eventually
change your mind. In the meantime, you get to sample the power of the Visual
Studio IDE, and you can always get another version later.

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HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
.Net Developer
If you push something hard enough,
it will fall over.
- Fudd's First Law of Opposition

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JimG - 01 Dec 2005 19:44 GMT

I'm going to try Visual Basic 2005 Express

Signature

JimG

> Hi Jim,
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> >
> > - I'm a VB 3.0 user (C programmer professionally)

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Norman Yuan - 02 Dec 2005 14:45 GMT

If you plan doing Windows app, you can download #Develop. It is complete
free and comparable to VS on Windows app development. Its current version is
for .NET 1.1 and the version for .NET2.0 could be released sometime later.
It fits your needs/requirements very well.

See http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/

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