Instead of buying VS 2010 what options will you use for .net development in the future?

Given the recent release of VS 2010 I was shocked to see the pricing structure for the different versions of the product. I was lucky enough to receive free versions of VS 2005 and 2008 from attending various MS events. For the hacking I do at home I'm not sure I'm going to spend the money to purchase the I开发者_如何学CDE and wanted to see what others were using.

Like SharpDevelop MonoDevelop Expess Editions

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As you mentioned, you could always try using a copy of Visual Studio Express. That is probably your best bet for doing Windows development - why not try it out to see if it meets your needs?

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Express editions for personal development. If you're doing professional development just go through the process to become a MS certified partner and get pretty much every professional software tool MS makes for free.

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If you're talking about just playing at home, then why not just get the express edition?

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The express editions are intended for 'hacking at home' and will probably give you the most value for the money.

The choice for one of the others would depend on your intended platforms.

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Express editions will be the closest match to the pro versions. This is what I have been using myself for personal projects.

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There's an interesting post on Rob Conery's blog about using Vim for .Net development. I'm not certain I can really recommend this, but it's food for thought all the same.

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I think that Express Edition is enough to test some .NET features at home. Obviously, if you need to use it to build a commercial solution, you must buy the IDE. Note that it is very powerful and I think that it is a good investment.