Has anyone ever experienced this ?
Out of the blue, Visual Studio 2008 started using C++ syntax when debugging a C# project, even though I've probably never even opened a C++ project on this computer (it's installed though). Restarting visual studio and the computer does not help, is there a way out of this without reinstalling Visual Studio ?
Try resetting your settings to Visual C# Developer (Tools, Import & Export Settings).
Export your current settings (in the second step) in case you want them back.
You can view the values "normally" or as Hex. There should be a toggle button labeled "Hex" in your toolbar. Turn it off.
Wow, that's awesome. I would give my left pinkie if I knew how to turn on that option on demand. It isn't C++ syntax btw, it is C++/CLI, the managed language version of C++. Do you have any C++/CLI code in your project? You are also debugging a 64-bit program, that uses a very different debugger. The debugging 'experience' is usually much better if you force the debug build of your program to run in 32-bit mode. Project + Properties, Build tab, Platform target = x86. Also enables Edit+Continue.
There's a post-SP1 hotfix for the VS2008 debugger. It fixes many debugger problems.