Why were MFC, ATL and masm not included in VC++ Express?
First off, while I do have a degree in Geology, my minor in college was Computer Science.Even though I do not have a job that needs much in then way of computer skills, since college I have been trying to keep up my computer skills.When I found out that Microsoft was offering VC++ 2005 Express Edition as a free download, I was excited because I thought that I would be able to compile programs that I would find of use to myself.At any rate, I am a little disappointed with VC++ Express Edition because of its limitations.
My question is what was the reasoning behind not including MFC, ATL and masm in VC++ 2005 Express Edition? I understand that the amount of programming that can be done in VC++ Express Edition is supposed to be limited and that this version is not intended for compiling commercial programs. Before I learned that VC++ Express Edition did not include MFC, ATL and masm I was trying to compile the open source P2P program eMule for which MFC, ATL and masm are all necessary.Yes, I know that the fact that eMule is both open source and a P2P program which may get me in trouble.JHowever, it would be nice if there was some relatively inexpensive way to get an upgraded version of VC++ or a method of buying the libraries and programs necessary to compile any given program from the source code.I guess I should buy a copy of Visual Studio Standard Edition, but I would probably only use the Visual C++ component of Visual Studio which is kind of a bummer.While the $299 MSRP of Visual Studio Standard Edition is still less than the cost of Microsoft Office 2003 Professional which is about $400.I guess I shouldn’t compare Visual Studio Standard Edition to product on a different OS like MacOS X or Linux, for which a compiler and IDE are included or available as a free download.I would pay some money for something that allowed me to compile any program, however in my opinion the cost of Visual Studio Standard Edition still seems a little steep.Then again I paid about $350 for a copy of Microsoft Office 2003 Professional to be bundled with this computer when I bought it back in June.If I was really serious about compiling programs and writing code I would probably buy a copy of Visual Studio Standard Edition for the $299.However, unless some project really excites me and I had the time to write code I won’t buy that particular version of Visual Studio.
