Re: "Visual Studio is a paid-for product"
WHAT are you talking about!?
I've used Turbo Pascal, Turbo Pascal for Windows, Turbo C, Turbo C++, Borland C++, Delphi, etc. ALL PAID FOR!
The only "free" Borland "IDE" I used was a very basic Turbo Vision based editor that came with a C/C++ book.
Nothing wrong with companies charging for software. Most are not charities after all!