I couldn't have said it better ;)

Hetfield

I went for "Thinking in C++" by Bruce Eckel. It helped me a lot and I think it is ideal for starters.

Hetfield

Work: 2 x 17" LCDs @ 1280x1024 Home: 1 x 19" LCD @ 1280x1024 I am very pleased with my 19" monitor, but I would try out a bigger one.

Hetfield

The cheapest NVidia dual display card I've seen is 7900 GS, which is not very cheap (but offers good performance for the money). On the ATI side, you can find the 9550 or X1300 models with dual display support, and these models are close to the lowest price you can get for a video card these days.

Hetfield

I have tried Installshield, from 5.5 Professional version to Installshield X version. I also tried some version of Wise. It is true that Installshield looks more professional and has a lot of features, some of which you may never have to use, but it is also true that it is full of bugs (from crashes of the application and UI freezing to incorrect saving of settings and so on). I would go for the .Net installer, maybe with some custom actions and dialogs. But to make sure you make the right decision, I also recommend you try out some free evaluation versions of these installers. This way you can see for yourself if the features you need are truly there and will make (or not) your life easier. I hope this helps,

Michael

I'm also a Subversion and TortoiseSVN fan. Tortoise was great with CVS also, but Subversion is the future. ;)

Hetfield