Good C++ programs?

Hello!

I'm wondering which is your favourite C++ debugger? Or favourite IDE? Compiler? Of course I would rather run freeware than commercial programs, but if it is commercial, please tell me anyway.

I haven't really got a clue of what programs to use, which is good or which is bad, or even which kind of programs I should search for, a good IDE or a good compiler/debugger? I have been taught how to use Dev-Cpp in school, and that's about it. But Dev-C++ sucks when it comes to debugging, and it sometimes needs to shut down because of error. Please help me find a good combination of programs in windows. Thanks!

-Kristofer

MS Visual Studio [v6, 2002, 2003]

Not a big fan of 2005 so far.

Every commercial software house I have worked for has used MSVC.

But then I (mainly) create 'asset protection' systems based on MS OS's (embedded, server and desktop versions) so I am biased.....

dev-cpp does everything ive ever asked of it, and if u need to build guis use wxDev-cpp, its kinda buggy but its an excellent implementation of a form designer which uses wx instead of the MFC, which means ur applications are both cross platform and dont require the 700$ MFC.

No, wxWidgets wraps Win32 API and so does MFC. Really you'd be best to use pure Win32 API so you understand window's programming then use something "further away" like wx.

But if you want a compiler MingW as you said is good, the Microsoft Compilers aren't bad too.

No, wxWidgets is not just a Win32 wrapper. It's a platform-independent abstraction. If you use pure Win32 API you learn more about programming Windows, but not necessarily windows programming.