As a side note, is there soe method of asking Microsoft questions such as this when deciding what products to purchase? The only support options I can find are the premium technical support.
This link has the contact details for your second question:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
Specifically check the: 'Sales and Licensing' section on that page.
Regards,
Vikram
If you want to use native code on devices, you can do it in eVC which can be downloaded for free. http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/productinfo/productline/default.aspx If you'd like to do a managed C++ development, it's not supported on devices.
It also can be done in VS 2005 Standard Edition or above (in Beta now). Please see this for details.
