Microsoft Visual Studio is a Graphical User Interface(GUI) that allows you to create your own applications easily. There are many different branches of Visual Studio Like Visual C++, Visual C#, Visual Basic, Visual Web Developer, and many add-ons to these.

One of the great features of Visual Studio is Intelli-Sense. Intelli-Sense Completes Code for you. This is a very handy tool for a programmer. There are very many different uses for Visual Studio. Windows Applications is the most used, but there is also Game Programming, Hard Ware Programming, and if you’ve got alot of time on your hands you could also program an Operating System.

The Express editions are all free and I highly recommend looking into getting a copy if you are a programmer or if you wish to become one. I have been using this for about 1 1/2 years and i have never had a issue with it.

Overall I highly Recommend you Using Visual Studio.

Here are some links to get you to the right spot to learn more about Visual Studio:

Wikipedia

Visual Studio Express Editions Home Page