vb.net compared to other MS languages

I've been reading some posts lately and keep seeing that c# and vb are not too much unalike. I am currently looking to learn another language and thought I'm gonna choose between c# 2003, visual c++ .net or plain ol' c++. what are some opinions on which language would be a great second language.

I'm not too concerned about how hard one is over the other. I want to be able to do more basically.

I don't really know what the power of c++ is or if vc++ is different that plain ol' c++. I'll save that for the c++ forum though :)

C++ is a workhorse language. However, it can be at times very tiring to debug, hard to wield its power, and unless you're a C++ guru (which many programmers are not), it will take you longer to develop applications. Most programming jobs you will find, don't require extensive knowledge in C++.

You didn't mention what language you know now, I am only going to guess VB.Net or VB6 because of the forum you are posting to.

With that in mind, may I suggest Java.

It is far more in demand than .Net programming skills at the moment, and moving from Java to C# .Net will be an easy step once you master Java, so if the market swings toward .Net, you will be halfway there. Get yourself at least a few Java programming books.

I myself started in Java, but never got the hang of AWT (unfortunately AWT was all that was available before Swing GUI classes appeared on the scene), so I stopped short of developing full-fledged applications. I am planning to go back and at least make myself as proficient in Java, as I am in .Net.

Why? Because many jobs want Java programmers. From mobile to web applications, they seem to be in demand the most-- and Java like .Net is still maturing.

Anyway, that's my two cents.