Even so, I still would have been lied to:

"What Do I Need to Run Visual Basic .NET?

"Apart from a willingness to learn, all you'll need for the first 14 chapters are a PC running Windows 2000, or NT4 Server, Internet Explorer, and of course:

"* Microsoft Visual Studio .NET

"or

"* Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Standard Edition"

I *HAVE* Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Standard Edition, but chapter 12 clearly states it requires "Visual Studio .NET Professional or above."

So, I go looking to see what else I can't do with the Standard Edition:

"* Chapter 15 requires Microsoft Access 2000

"* For Chapter 16, you will need to have access to SQL Server 7 or SQL Server 2000"

Access is about $100, but Visual Studio Pro is $799 and SQL Server *starts* at $3799.

WTF?

I could have bought a book on Visual Basic. Period.