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I forgot to post the language comparison between C# and Java. Sorry.

.NET's C# is more or less a dead ringer for Java. If you know Java, you can pick up C# in a few hours

Maybe what it'll take for me is the actual IDE. At this time I only have a few C# and .NET books on loan and the SDK+compiler set I mentioned earlier. Having spent a few moments examining sample code, C# and VB# look a lot like Java, so I admit it was refreshing, and I am very tempted to drop C and Java altogether in favor of C#. The following articles made some good points:

A Comparison of Microsoft's C# Programming Language to Sun Microsystems' Java Programming Language By Dare Obasanjo
and
A Comparative Overview of C#

At the moment though I'm still struggling to find a good free alternative to VC++ 6.0 that meets my needs. I had hoped the .NET 1.1 SDK would contain all I would need to write Windows apps using C/C++, but I don't even know how to go about writing a regular C/C++ app using the tools. Where's the C++ compiler???

GCC and the others may not be an option for me. I want to write Windows and DOS/console apps in straight API. My SO does need to program and wants to be able to write DirectX/DirectShow apps, also using just the API. Everything I have read has indicated that in order to write DirectX/DirectShow apps, I will need to buy VC++, and it looks like I need to buy v6.0 and not this new .NET stuff being sold in stores. From what I've read, the other compiler suites don't come with the SDKs I will need. I know I can download the DirectX 9.0 and the DirectMedia 6.0 SDK, but I don't know how to link them into a new compiler, and supposedly, some of the language in the SDKs are poorly formatted with syntax errors that will kill other compilers.

Of course, if any of you guys out there know otherwise, I'd love to hear about. My dream is to be able to get the Borland TurboVision IDE from Turbo C++ DOS to run on top of GCC and compiling Windows and DirectShow apps. :)

I noticed a distinct absence of C# in the article describing X-Code. Hmm... I wonder if its close ties with the M$-.NET(C# overview) has irritated Steve.

Obviously there is a reasonable explination for this, C# is just too new for it to have been included... sure. I mean, it has ONLY been out for a year and a half. jeeze

.NET resolves many of the features that are inherently lacking in java imho.
Take a look at a comparative analysis of c# to java and c++.

some features I particularly liked: delegates (and resulting event support), properties and indexers, and collection management.

Perhaps you should look at the c# and .NET specs before you flame people for not providing a comprehensive list to supplement everything they say, instead of hiding in your anti-ms hole.

I actually took a course in C# through my company, and even though i was late for the course, I didn't miss anything. Basically C# IS Java, but with a different naming convention.

Anyway, if you know Java already, you don't need a book on 600 pages to get to know C#, all you need is info located for free on the web, here for instance.

A Comparative Overview of C#

This is a great site. If anyone wants to learn C# coming from a C/C++ or Java background I send them here. Shows source in all three languages (where applicable). Good place to start.

I must say I was a hard-core Java fan until I found C#. I must qualify that statement since I develop exclusively for Windows.

If you write code that will only live in the Windows world, you owe it to yourself to check out C#/.NET.

For those who feel like they're downloading the page over a 110-baud modem with an acoustic coupler located in the same room as a Disaster Area concert, here are some other similar comparisons.

There is a good, clean quick overview of C# here. The also do some comparison of C# to Java.

Microsoft was pretty much painted in a corner by Sun. Microsoft doesn't want to invest its time in a platform defined by a commpetitor any more than Sun wants to be directed by MS technology.

If you want to think of C# and .NET as MS-Java. That's fine. Write some code in it (those that are using Windows). I've written the same programs in Java and C# and I can say with just a few hundred lines of C# under my belt, that C# is definately an upgrade.

Read the Comparitive overview of C# for a fairly objective comparison between C# and Java/C++.

You might be able to say fairly that .NET provides all of the benefits of Java for the Windows platform. Along with multipule language support.

Don't take this feature so seriously. If you are working on one application, Microsoft and anyone else with half-a-brain would want you to use one langauge. It does negate the fact that being able to use components written in other languages and being able to produce compontents that can be used by other languages provides developers a great deal of flexibility. Look into the benifits of .NET without the Java comparison. So it might be a shameless copy: good artists copy; great artists steal. I think .NET can stand on its own feet.