Sorry, but Microsoft backpedaled after the bad press. You can download Windows 8 development tools for free now. [1]
Your info about "no command line apps" is also outdated. It USED to be true, but I have VS2010 Express, and it came with the command line tools:
c:\Devel\Msdev.2010\Common7\Tools>vsvars32
vsvars32
Setting environment for using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 x86 tools.
c:\Devel\Msdev.2010\Common7\Tools>cl
cl
Microsoft (R) 32-bit C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 16.00.40219.01 for 80x86
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
usage: cl [ option... ] filename... [ /link linkoption... ]
c:\Devel\Msdev.2010\Common7\Tools>
I also use XCode, and it's ... not nearly as good as Visual Studio, though I am liking the new Eclipse-like "compile your code as you're typing it" real time error markup. A friend tells me that XCode can be configured to be sane, but I haven't given it a try yet.
Your info about "no command line apps" is also outdated. It USED to be true, but I have VS2010 Express, and it came with the command line tools:
I also use XCode, and it's ... not nearly as good as Visual Studio, though I am liking the new Eclipse-like "compile your code as you're typing it" real time error markup. A friend tells me that XCode can be configured to be sane, but I haven't given it a try yet.[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516