In order to determine what's "on par" with .NET/VS, you have first to define your goal. If it is writing web apps for Windows servers, it's pretty good. If it's writing desktop apps for Windows using C/C++/C#/VB.net, then VS is an obvious choice.
If, however, your goal is to deliver a desktop application that runs on Windows, MacOS X and other Unixes, or an app that runs on Symbian mobile phones, VS is worst than useless.
You should not count which platforms it runs on. The claim was:
> .NET/VS.NET is one of the best programming environments ever engineered
What you're doing is when somebody claims "trains are more energy efficient than cars" then you say "but not if you run a train on a road"/"you can't run a train on a road". This is true but that was not the claim, the claim is clearly about the productivity a programmer has with the tools for developing applications for the platforms that the respective tools are targeting.
And you can build applications that run on OS X and Linux with VS.
> And you can build applications that run on OS X and Linux with VS.
It would be every bit as pretty as driving a train over a road...
VS is a space shuttle. Very complex, very impressive and with a very limited usage. To its credit and unlike the shuttle, it can do one thing very well.
It all depends on your priorities. If all you do is write Windows software, VS is the best. If what you do is web apps that will run on Unix-like servers on platforms like J2EE, Django, Rails, Flask or anything like it, you can tweak it until it becomes barely usable. Of course, only as long as you conform yourself to running your workstation on an environment profoundly different from what the app will run on production.
Priorities matter. I wouldn't use a Formula 1 race car to launch a satellite, regardless of how much they are impressive vehicles. Compared to what it takes to launch a satellite, they are, really, quite unimpressive.
If, however, your goal is to deliver a desktop application that runs on Windows, MacOS X and other Unixes...VS is worst than useless.
Not at all true. Setting up VS to work with Qt isn't too hard. And once you've got it set up it's a perfectly fine tool for writing cross platform Qt apps. Then to build and test you just do some clever stuff with virtual machines and you are good to go.
not true if you're developing the desktop app in Silverlight which will run in all of those desktop environments (of course Moonlight is not an official release from MSFT)
If, however, your goal is to deliver a desktop application that runs on Windows, MacOS X and other Unixes, or an app that runs on Symbian mobile phones, VS is worst than useless.