VB Development Tools

[Neils47]

I'll probably get chided for not searching previous forums well enough to answer my question (even though I've been searching
forums and the Microsoft site for days) but...

I would like to develop an application targetting the Pocket PC 2003 platform and would like to use VB as the programming language. I currently have VS 6.0 Professional installed for desktop development.
Based on my research so far I've come up with the following Microsoft possibilities:

1) Embedded Visual Basic 3.0 -
Pros: free
Cons: being obsoleted by M'soft, doesn't support quite a few Basic constructs, interpreted, no supported SDK for PPC 2003 (unsupported SDK available)

2) Windows CE Toolkit for VB 6.0
Pros: Can use my current VS 6.0, presumably supports most of VB 6.0 constructs, not too expensive
Cons: Is this supported?, does it support PPC 2003?

3) VB.Net Standard Edition
Pros: not too expensive, fits .Net architecture, supported
Cons: does this support PPC?, the back of the box implies it does not yet the M'soft web site says the following about VB.Net Standard "Fast development for mobile Web devices . Visual Basic .NET 2003 features support for more than 200 mobile Web devices including mobile phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs)." Anybody know for sure about this. I actually bought this then returned it after reading the back of the box.

4) VS.Net
Pros: Supports PPC, flagship product, well supported
Cons: VERY EXPENSIVE (more than I can justify for this app)


Is the above analysis correct? Can anyone answer the question about VB.Net Standard Edition? Are there non-M'soft VB tools that I should consider?

Thanks for any clairification on these questions Getting PPC development info is about the most frustrating search that I've ever done.

[threedaysdwn]

If you're a student there's a good chance that your school has MSDNAA, which means you can get Visual Studio 2003 for free (along with a bunch of other stuff).

I don't know if the Visual Studio Express betas support the compact framework or not. I know I'll be looking into Compact Framework development very soon... but I have a full MSDN subscription from work.

[threedaysdwn]

Also,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/

[Glohamar]

If you are wanting to develop for WM2003, definately use VB.Net. Now my understanding is that all development software, weather its VB.Net Pro 2003 or Visual Studio 2003, comes with the ability to write mobile apps using the .Net compact framework.

Like threedaydwn stated, if you are a student you can possibly get the software at a huge discount or even free.

[Neils47]

The academic discount looks great. Unfortunately I am not a student and don't work for a company with an MSDN subscription. Just an individual that wants to write an app for the PPC and doesn't want to spend $500 or so for Studio.Net

[mach1pony]

I too am in the same situation. I recently purchased a Dell Axim X30 and now have the bug to cut code for this baby... Silly hobby of mine!
I had NO IDEA these little things even existed until last week and ran out to buy one.

All I currently own is VB6. Are there any plug-in's for VB6 to allow developing apps for MSoft Mobile 2003SE?
Never have even seen VB.NET or .NET anything. Is it similar to VB6?
I loath the CLASS structure of C++. It it similar?

Can someone set-up a quick step-by-step "Getting Started with Compact Framework using VB for Dummy's" here?
What all will I need?

Sorry for:
a) Highjacking Neil’s thread
b) Being so ignorant on the topic
and
c) Asking such elementary questions

Thanks

[Neils47]

As I mentioned above, I am very new to this so take this information with caution.
If you want to use VB on a Pocket PC there are only 3 possibilities that I found.

1) Buy Visual Studio.Net. Note that VB.Net does not support the Pocket PC so you have to buy Visual Studio, which gives you Basic, C++, C#, etc. Academic version is $80 or so. OEM version $150 or so. Full retail $400+. Pretty pricey for developing hobbyist apps on the PPC.

2) Use eVB, embedded Visual Basic. Free download from Microsoft. However, it is essentially obsolete. There is an SDK for PPC 2003 that works with this but it is unsupported. I have no idea about the reliability of the combo. I ruled out eVB because the version of Basic it supports resembles the VB scripting language and it did not have the features that I needed.

3) NSBasic. Versions for the PPC and also Palm. Had a good set of language support. Price was reasonable, about $120 if I remember correctly. Free 30 day download and trial. Didn't bu it because I needed some language features that it didn't support. BTW, response from the company is very good. I asked a couple of questions on a weekend night and got a response within a couple of hours!

If this info is incorrect or incomplete I welcome anyone's additions/corrections.