Hello:

I am a network guy by trade, and I've been stumbling lately onto things that would be really nifty to have a nice little app to take care of. Typically what I've done is make a .vbs script, and I've even made small Access applications that perform some small functions based on user input. Neither of these methods are ideal, so I want to start looking into making standalone apps.

I can't afford Visual Studio .NET right now, and since I mainly want to dabble, mess stuff up, and figure out how to fix it - I can't justify spending that much money.

On the other hand VB .NET is relatively affordable, and would be good since I already have a basic grasp of some vb. But I don't know if I should go for the C# or C++ programs, because I don't know the goods and bads of the three compared.

If I got VB .NET, would I be able to create small apps (and eventually some larger apps) and distribute them to network users via an .exe or something? I guess I just don't know where to begin, and don't want to spend money on something only to find out that it doesn't do what I had hoped.

Any input would be greatly appreciated .

Thanks!

-jim