Visual Basic comes in several editions for each version. There are four different editions: Learning, Standard, Professional and Enterprise Edition. The Learning Edition normally comes on VB books for free. This allows you to experiment with VB, but does not allow you to create an executable (EXE) file . Standard is the simplest version, and also the cheapest (about £69). It comes with the basic controls and allows you to create an executable. Professional comes with much more features and ActiveX controls like the Rich TextBox and costs about £386. Enterprise Edition is another 'notch' up, and is mainly for programmers who are creating applications for servers and networks. Enterprise Edition costs about £903. For most people the Professional is the best option, if you can afford the initial cost.

There is also a Students (or academic) edition. This is a Professional version of Visual Studio sold at a very low cost (about £120) to students (anyone working towards a recognised qualification, students, teachers)