I Like VC# Express

I was paving a box this weekend with the March Avalon/Indigo CTP and I needed the matching Feb CTP of VS05, so I installed the Feb CTP of VC# Express. I have to say, I’m impressed. Avalon integrated w/ no trouble. I have all the Intellisense, key bindings, options, code formatting and generics support that I went looking for (although I did have to find the Show all settings option in the Options dialog).

Only two things bug me about Express. The first is minor: I’m used to starting VS with Start->Run: devenv [Enter] and now I have to start VC# Express with Start->Run: vcexpress [Enter]. Given that I can install a bunch of Express products, it makes sense to me to need to learn a new EXE name for each of them (especially if I slip Asynch COM out of long-term storage… [dumping]… there, plenty of room!).

The second thing that bugs me is that I’m not allowed to specific a spot on my hard drive when I create a new project. As a guy with a background thread running Alt->F->S every time I typing idles, having everything in a well-known place is important to me. I’m a developer. Things crash!

Overall, though, I’m loving VC# Express. Recommended.