For individual developers and small teams looking to create connected applications with next-generation user experiences, Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition is a great fit.
Use the LINQ-Enabled XML API
Create a Rich Client Application with MFC
Integrated Development Environment How To Video
To install Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition, you need:
32 bit OS: Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2 installed, Windows Server 2003®, or Windows Vista®
64 bit OS: Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 with SP1, Standard x64 Edition (WOW)
Client software prerequisites: Internet Explorer® 6.0 with Service Pack 1,
Microsoft Office 2003 with Service Pack 1
or Microsoft Office 2007, MDAC 9.0, .NET Framework 2.0
Hardware requirements:
Minimum: 2.0 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB HDD
Recommended: 2.6 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB HDD