Is Visual Studio .NET 2008 way different from VS 2003?

Question

Eight years ago I was a programmer. I want to update my skills & get back into that field. I have access to Visual Studio .NET 2003 Standard Edition. The latest edition of VS Studio is 2008, but even the Standard edition costs around $300. Could I become a marketable programmer after studing the 2003 version, or is it necessary to buy the 2008 edition? Thx for any help.

Answer 1

You can work on 90% of the skills you probably need with the 2003 version, enough to be marketable. Upgrading to 2005 or 2008 would actually make some tasks easier, especially around web-based development, so you might actually be learning a few skills you may no longer need, but it's still fine for ramping back up your language skills and getting familiar with programming to the .NET framework.



You might find it a bit more difficult to obtain tutorials or on-line references for helping you learn that are meant for the 2003 version. Even books may be scarce, so if you don't have anywhere to start yourself and need these learning materials, you might want to look around for them first to determine if any will work with your environment. Also, since 2008 is out, it may be worth looking for a 2005 version on the cheap. :)

Answer 2

You can go straight on with the 2003. 2005 is very common if you look for tutorials and examples around the internet. I'm using the 2008 right now, and maybe has more options for Windows Mobile based apps, but with WM 5.0., so if you want 6.0. you must install it after VS 2008.

Answer 3

You can go straight on with the 2003.



2005 is very common if you look for tutorials and examples around the internet.



I'm using the 2008 right now, and maybe has more options for Windows Mobile based apps, but with WM 5.0., so if you want 6.0. you must install it after VS 2008.

Answer 4

2003 is not nearly even halfway different from 2008.