I saw a neat piece of code recently for using a RGB User type with the bitmap bits API functions so that you can have the speed of the API getbitmapbits with the ease of use of RGB, a good way to manipulate colours on the fly. I'll see if I can find it.

Pointers'd be nice though, proper linked lists etc.

You should get a copy of Borland C++ Builder, If I were you I'd give VC++ a miss though.

You could always try Delphi, you'd have your pointers there too, and the borland interface is more tayored around pascal than C anyway. You'd get to keep using a RAD environment too.

Let me know if you're interested in the RGB tripple type code... I've got a sample project I think, from some book or website