Recently, my Visual C++ Express edition expired. So, I was going to buy the professional version, but first, I want to know if I should get Code::Blocks instead. Which is better, and why?
Visual C++ Express is free. Registration is free, unless you got the whole Visual Studio. All you need is a Windows Live account, fill out a small survey (no personal info required) and you get your registration key.
Whoops, sorry guys, turns out it WAS Test Professional... I got VC++ Express now, thanks, but anyway, which is better? Oh, and I want to develop a mix of commercial and open source software, if theres anything in any of the licences of the products (Visual C++ Express, Code::Blocks and/or (test)Professional Visual Studio) that stops me from commercial development, please point that out.
If you want to do commercial AND open source, then Visual Studio Express is not the way to go. You can use GCC/MinGW for both, as far as I can remember, as long you don't statically link any GPL code.