title: Should I choose Visual C++ 2010 or 2008?
body: <p>I'm taking computing this year for my A-levels (major exam), and there's a coursework component in which we have to code solutions to problems in C++. My school just switched to using Visual C++ 2008 this year (we were using 6.0 previously) and our teacher told us to download VC++ 2008 Express Edition.</p>
  
  <p>However, I've already got Visual Studio 2010 Pro on my machine, and I have access to VS 2008 Pro as well through Microsoft's DreamSpark program for students. Is there a significant difference between 2010 and 2008, and between Express and Pro?</p>
  
  <p>I heard that 2010 has a feature that checks your code as you type - so you don't have to compile to find syntax errors, for example. I was thinking maybe this could help me learn faster when practicing on my own at home. But I'm worried I might not be able to open my 2008 files from school at home (and vice versa), or that the interfaces/features are so different that I'll get confused during the actual exam.</p>
  
  <p>My main concern is that using VS2010 at home will make me confused/more helpless when I switch to VS2008 in school for the exam. For example this Intellisense feature mentioned in VS2010 seems really useful, but if VS2008 doesn't have it/has a lousier version of it, I might not be able to work as well during the final exam.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks for your answers so far.</p>