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I have never done any Windows coding and I would like to give it a try. To create a simple application e.g. a window that displays a plain “Hello World” message.
What IDE (open source?) would I need to start of with and what language is used for the native Windows applications?
This is not for professional use, just for an amateur.
I’d recommend going for Visual Studio Express, you can use c#, Visual Basic (VB.NET) or c++, it’s free and easy. It also makes the step to the larger Visual Studio simple if you’re ever going to do that.
check out Microsoft Visual Studio Express
edit: added VB.NET
Since i’m editing anyway, how about some additions; If you prefer opensource you could also look into SharpDevelop (c# and boo) and/or monodevelop (c#, but better for linux/multiplatform, not so great for just windows imho but yout mileage may vary)
edit: 6 years later.
Microsoft has, in the mean time, provided us with Visual Studio Community Edition, which is in essence a complete Visual Studio professional, but free (some restrictions do apply). I do believe this is now the absolute best way to develop most non commercial, and possibly some commercial, Windows oriented projects you can get.