learning Windows Development from a Linux background

Question

No I didn't reverse my operating systems in that question! My background has been exclusively Linux/OSX to date, and I honestly don't know a thing about Windows development. Visusal *, *.NET, Powershell, WinForms, Win32, not a clue. They're just words to me. This is starting to be a problem because I've been tasked to port Linux/OSX software to Windows, and Cygwin doesn't begin to cut it. Does anyone have advice on how to get into Windows development tools? There are a million introductions to UNIX out there, but every google search for "Windows for Linux programmers" gets the opposite result!

EDIT: To give more information I guess what I need the most right now is to learn how to compile and cross-compile using the Microsoft compilers, an overview of the Windows libraries (I guess that's the .NET stuff?), and Powershell. Sorry for being so broad. I guess what's happening is when I sit in front of a Windows machine I revert to a web surfer instead of a programmer because I don't know any of the standard tools outside of Cygwin.

Answer 1

This is going to sound snippy, and I don't mean it that way, but...

Is it at all possible to involve a Windows developer in this effort? It takes a significant amount of time to come up to speed in windows, and if you've been tasked with porting code over, you probably haven't been allocated enough time to come up to speed before starting work. Even bringing in a consultant would provide you with someone to get you going, and steer you away from the rocks once in a while.