Picking the one I had in mind for "piggish" start up and runtime behaviour is close to cheatin' ;-))

In the last 5 years I used Eclipse, Netbeans and xDev3 - not one comes VS prof in all areas. But if you decide depending on the project

xDev3 for Access/vfp/CS likeness
Netbeans for VB6 / VS screenpainting and memory databinding
Eclipse for backend / large project

the differences grow much smaller.
If you compare the cost free versions, VS will have areas showing weakness where perhaps one or two of the java packages is stronger.

IIRC US school grades: B+ vs. C- for VS prof vs. Eclipse overall, B- vs. C+ on VS [free] vs. Java dev tool picked according to task.


>How about something simple. Compare Visual Studio to Eclipse. Eclipse looks amateurish in comparison.
>
>>Fair enough. Perhaps also would have been better to ask for an example for compelling UI from my side first to establish common ground in multi-facetted and taste-influenced environment.