@danasegarane: that only creates a new "Debug" folder under a different name.

I've since created a new simple program in both VB2008 and VB2010, and while VB2008 & VB2010 both create a Debug and Release folder, only VB2008 puts an .exe file(as well as other files) in the Release folder. The Release folder of VB2010 remains empty.

So the 2 differences between VB2008 & VB2010:

1. VB2010 has no "Build" option in the top menu
2. The Release folder of VB2010 remains empty when a project is built

The solution I am using is just to make a copy(not shortcut) of the .exe in the Debug folder and use that. Good enough. Before I was using a shortcut to this .exe, and couldn't rebuild the project because the .exe was running. With VB2008, I was using a shortcut to the .exe in the Release folder, so had no problem editing and rebuilding the .exe in the Debug folder.

Thanks for the replies.