If you want to use MFC, you usually have to pay for VisualStudio. I usually use the "Professional" version, it should have everything you need. Only thing that's useful that any of the other versions have that would be nice is the remote debugger, you have to get one of the other versions for that (for debugging remotely on embedded systems and/or just remote systems). It is expensive, but if you're a professional, your company should probably cover the cost. If you're a student, I believe you can get student pricing (may depend on university). If you're neither, you may have to consider using an open source alternative. There's quite a few alternative frameworks out there (wxWidgets, Qt, etc.).