Comments interspersed...

>...and to get it is quite simple:
>
>1. Wait a few months (unless you want to be a guinea pig AND a glutton for additional Beta Pain, in which case you can do some free and voluntary testing and quality assurance for MS)

While Beta 2 does have its warts, its really stable. People are already using it for everyday use.

>
>2. Pay some $600.00 or more (depending on your version) to get a new upgrade that supposedly fixes the previous upgrade

Unless you have an MSDN subscription. Then it's included.

>
>3. Go through the new version installation, which may or may not mess up something else in your system

Side-by-side installation is supported and was a high priority for this release.

>
>4. Upgrade any number of third party libraries to synchronize them with the new VS 2010

There will always be that, but the original question on this thread asked about learning, not using in production. However, Beta 2 comes with a GoLive! license, so you can use it for production if you want.

>
>5. Pray
>
>6. Play
>
>P.S. Why wouldn't someone complain about Microsoft if they use an MS OS and an MS framework and the darn thing STILL doesn't work right? Who should one complain to/about? If my brand new Toyota doesn't start in the morning, the first thing I would do is call the Toyota dealer, not the GM dealer. Ugggggh...

It's called anti-trust. Or did you miss all that?