Customer Reviews

Microsoft Visual C++ .NET Standard [Old Version]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been using Visual Studio .NET (the full package) for a while at work, and it's been working very well. The debugger is great, the IDE is much nicer than any other I've used, and IntelliSense is very handy to have.

If you're considering buying this 'Standard version', take note of the difference between it and the version that comes with 'Professional' Visual Studio package:

VC++.NET Standard does NOT come with an optimising compiler. This is the *learning edition* - you're permitted to distribute apps you write with it, but you can't use the /Ox compiler switches to generate optimised code.

Note that you may be still able to compile (and optimise) the code you've written in the VC++.NET IDE with the free Borland C++ compiler or with GCC, as long as you're not using MFC or ATL.

As with all MSFT software the program has a clean ui, and it is pretty easy to figure out how to do stuff.

However, this is the first release of a new version, and the resulting teething problems mean you should pause before purchasing this if you already have a C++ compiler.

My primary complaints about the software are:
- Libraries and software that compiled in MSVC++ 6.0 no longer compile in .NET. Worse, the errors listed by the compiler do not provide meaningful clues as to what is wrong(error C1001, internal compiler error). In the newsgroups, the standard MSFT response has been that the problem is with your source, not the compiler.
- The help and the ui are not in synch. For instance, the names used in the help files for project properties, and the actual naming in the dialog are different. This makes it hard to determine what you need to change when trying to configure your project.

Summary: Stay away unless you like living on the bleeding edge.

I bought this to take advantage of the ability to quickly visually design dialogs as in 6.0 which was recommended to me only to find out that the designers are not included in C++ as they are in C# and Visual Basic. Good luck finding that out on the MS website. So with the premier MS C++ development tool, you are still counting pixels for a simple dialog box!

Note after spending a good bit of time with this software, I felt compelled to rewrite my review.

I use Visual Studio as an editor when I write code for Linux/Unix, and also to develop native XP/2000 device drivers and windows application code.

This version is basically an upgrade of Visual C++ 6, with .NET, managed classes, and better template and ANSI standards adherence. Any problems you had with STL are resolved with this version. Note, on some code you will get some errors on code that compiled without warning under VC6, due to a stricter compiler.

Unfortunately, there are some negatives. The biggest is a rewrite of the Visual Studio IDE. The Visual Studio C++ class wizard is gone. Yes. Gone. You will have to spend time (and a large amount of it) to relearn how to add events, message handlers, and otherwise get up to speed with the VB-ish property window.

What would take me five minutes (drag and drop of an ActiveX control) ended up taking several hours of sifting through the help files.

This version is basically the academic version, with some crippled functionality. This version will not allow you to generate optimized code (/Ox switches are disabled), and some other functionality has been removed.

Also, you will want to have at least 512 MB, or it will crawl. I keep reverting back to Visual Studio C++ because of the .NET's lethargy. Luckily, unlike previous versions of Visual C++, the two versions can coexist on your system peacefully.

Further, if you intend to do any .NET development, you may be somewhat disappointed as .NET support is primarily focused on C# and VB. There are no examples for C++ using .NET assemblies, etc.

I just received my MS C++ .NET and I am not happy with it. The help function does work AT ALL (it's Explorer-Based, and all it does is tell me my server is offline), despite several attempts at re-installation. When I go to Microsoft's support page, it tells me my support options have expired, effectively telling me where to go if I actually want their product to work.

Let's see what Borland has to offer ...

Note well that this requires NT! It is not installable on ME, 98, nor 95.

Visual C++ .Net is a Upgrade of sorts to Visual C++ 6 it has added features and the .net framework If you plan to go with a book that is made for visual c++ 6 i would go with visual c++ 6 because the book is
product specific. Iwould suggest ditching the book Grabbing Visual C +++.net and getting C++ Primer a book that will teach you to program c++ and not just to use Microsoft version 6 of the IDE.

Please please help!!
I've learned c++ very well but I don't know!!
should I go with c++ .net or c++Builder??
Which one is better?????
Please help...

I've been using the Beta version of this software for the last 2 months and if that is any indicator this will be an amazing piece of software.

Has anybody installed this product on XP Home Edition? Does it work OK? I'm talking about actually compiling/linking on Home Edition, not compiling on XP Professional and running the resulting executable on Home Edition.