I'm upgrading from Visual Studio 2005 (I have both an Academic version and an Enterprise version via my employer).   I'm trying to decide between Standard and Professional, and whether to get an Upgrade or a whole new copy.

Comparison Chart - When I searched the ASP.NET forum archives I found lots of old links supposedly to comparisons between Standard and Professional that didn't seem to have such comparisons.   Maybe MFST changed the page contents since those postings, but here's a good, detailed comparison:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ca/vstudio/products/cc149003.aspx  

Based on the above I think I'll get Standard, but has anyone here bought Standard and regretted it later?

My Other Question:  What are the mechanics of the upgrade?   On a new PC do I have to install the old one first?    I used to have an Upgrade of Adobe Photoshop and every time I wanted to install it I had to install the original first and it was a PITA, so the next time I bought Photoshop I just bought it straight, even though it was more money to avoid the hassle.

I use VS 2008 Standard for development for the web, and have found my installation to be trouble-free thus far. I have not used it for Windows app programming. I installed the full versiont from dvd after already having Visual Web Developer and Visual Basic Express on this WinXP-SP3 machine. One thing I did was to hop over to the VS Installation and Setup Forum ( http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vssetup/threads/ ) and read the helpful 'sticky' topics at the top of the first page. I probably don't need to tell you, but will anyway: Read up on the install and be sure to install any prerequesites in the correct order, if any are needed. Once you have VS 2008 installed and working properly, install SP-1. That will bring your install up to date.

Regarding upgrade: You'll need to check to see if you qualify for the upgrade pricing. The DVD (or download) is the full program. As I understand it, VS 2005 does not 'upgrade' to 2008: They are separate programs entirely. I do not believe you actually need to have the 'qualifying' program installed, although the VS installer may ask for the media of a qualifying program. Hopefully, one of the MVP's or an MS person will clarify my statement.

"I used to have an Upgrade of Adobe Photoshop and every time I wanted to install it I had to install the original first and it was a PITA..." I am a long-time PhotoShop user, and believe me; I feel your pain!

I hope this helps, and good luck.

-Preston