Hi All,
I'd like to study up on the latest technologies for writing Windows desktop apps. My last experience was with VC++ 6 using MFC. The landscape seems more complex these days, I'm not sure if I should learn .NET, don't really know what Windows forms, WPF are etc. All I want to do is be able to write some simple Windows GUI apps, probably using & learning C# along the way.
Any recommendations on books to read etc?
Also, is the free version of VC2008 good enough for writing small apps?
Well, if you are using C# you are using .NET. .NET really is a great framework for creating desktop applications. I think you are on the right track.
I would go with .NET and WPF. WinForms is still available, but is really a legacy branch of .NET at this point, and not worth learning if you are starting from scratch. WPF offers a lot of good features, and is pretty use to get up and running with.
I found "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" a good introduction to WPF. It explained the foundational concepts well and wasn't just one of those 2,000 page tutorials full of screen shots.
I would start with reading C# online tutorials and articles from Code Project
MFC has changed very little since vc 6 you should be able to pick it up again with little trouble and while this skill set may not be as indemand as .net There are still jobs out there and you can still write compelling windows applications.
Actually, I learned ALOT just browsing Stack Overflow and posting a few questions here. I think the Visual Studio Express tools are great for new developers. I'm also a fan of Bob Tabor's stuff (http://www.learnvisualstudio.net/) He does have some free stuff located on MSDN here that was really helpful for a guy like me with a mostly scripting background. You may be ahead of me because of your past experience so perhaps it's too rudimentary for you.
I'm really starting to enjoy C# and .NET and just started to be able to read code and for the most part, comprehend it. It was quite a breakthrough for me.
If you've got a C++ background and aren't afraid of pointers/stack/heap etc, then this book (CLR vi C#) will give you a superb understanding of .Net. It is very readable and will provide the foundations you need to be able to understand just about any new/up and coming .Net technology (e.g. Linq, extension methods, etc).
VS2008 express editions are available free here and are good enough for writing small apps.