C# on a Windows host

• Command line
• Visual Studio Code
• Visual Studio "community" edition

There is also the "Rider" IDE from JetBrains, but it is $139 per year, and there is no way I am doing that either. There is no way I am spending any of my own money on this period. Not just to "check it out" anyway. If I was doing work ..., well whoever was paying me would be paying for it.

I could try VS "code", but I am more inclined to try the community edition of the IDE.

Get busy on my windows PC

So I give it more time, go to my Linux machine and use my browser. Again I try to log in to my Microsoft account. After giving my password, I end up again with a useless all white browser window. And people wonder why I complain about Microsoft. It would seem that whatever server they have that handles account logins is either overloaded or entirely out of service. It is Thursday around 6PM MST, if that is some special time for Microsoft.

I type Ctrl-Alt-Del on the windows machine and select "sign out". This works. I log back in as "tom" and wonder of wonder, I don't get nagged about the setup stuff. I fire up Chrome and search for "visual studio community edition". I find a link that says "download latest" that looks legit. It downloads a little 4G "visualstudiosetup.exe. I launch it, give it permission, and wait. It doesn't always have a presence on the screen, but just be patient.

Now it gives me a bunch of choices (node.js, python, C++, and .NET). I select .NET desktop which includes C# and F#. I could alternately choose Universal Windows Platform development, but that sounds unlikely. F# is optional with that, and I select it. I could also select "SDK C# Templates", but I don't. It says it requires 7.32 G. I click the "Install" button. It downloads about 4G, then says it is installing 427 packages.

Meanwhile, the browser window in my Linux machine has come alive and I can try logging into my microsoft account. It wants to send a code to my email, I say OK, and it does, and that code logs me in. I try to change my password, but it doesn't recognize my old password. Time for another code. It encourages me to use a smartphone app to avoid passwords and such. It is almost a joke. It returns me to the form to set a new password. All I want to do is to set a Microsoft account password in anticipation that it will want this at some point in the Visual Studio install.

I exit that browser window and start fresh and now I get immediately into my Microsoft account without a password or codes or anything. I did say at some point "keep me logged in" and I guess it took me seriously. At the upper right is a little blue square with my initials. I click this and get a menu that includes the option to log out. I do so. I exit the browser window, and try to login again (I just want to verify my password), but voila -- I am automagically logged in. Well, so much for trying to be prepared. I'll just go through whatever battle I have to if visual studio has ideas about connecting to my microsoft account.

Meanwhile on the Windows machine the install of Windows Visual Studio Community 2022 is on package 170 of 427. I go for a bike ride and when I come back about an hour later, it is done. It suggests that I login/create an account. I could skip it, but I decide to roll the dice and go for it. I give it the password I just set up via the linux login mentioned above and it works!. Will wonders never cease. It has my name as "Bugs Bunny", which is correct and suits me fine.

Now it is doing setup stuff, but then is ready offering me a variety of things including to create a new project. I exit VC community.

There is no desktop icon. I search for "visual" and it finds "Visual Studio 2015" from something or other I fooled with 8 years ago. If I type more, it finds "visual studio 2022". I select it and click on "pin to start". This works and there is now an entry in the start menu and it indeed starts it up.