Re:Windows without a compiler?! (Score 2, Informative)

Windows does come with compilers in the .NET Framework, which is either on your windows CDs or available through Windows Update.

But, in 1.0 and 1.1 there was no build/make tool, and no resources compiler (like resgen) so even though you had the VB/C# compiler, you still needed to download the SDK or install Visual Studio to build managed projects. Really, the reason those compilers were in the .NET Framework at all (as I understand it) was for ASP.NET servers to use.

This is fixed in 2.0 (Whidbey). There's now a build tool (MSBuild, see http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MSBuild .HomePage) and it includes that missing ability to compile resources. That means you can build VB/C# projects on Windows boxes without installing the SDK, even Visual Studio VB/C# projects.