I was wanting to figure out why something was running slowly in a .NET program. Thought I’d try a profiler. I read the MSDN help and they said, “Oh, that’s easy. Just look under the Analyze menu.” There is no Analyze menu. Scroll up to top of MSDN page and you realize it’s only in the Visual Studio edition one level above yours. Look for free .NET profiler. There are none. How is it determined what features are free with the IDE and which will cost you? I imagine the Feature Gnome at Microsoft who rolls a die with sides labelled “Starter”, “Fiesta”, “Express”, “Standard”, “Professional”, “Premium”, “Penultimate”, “Ultimate”, “Deluxe”, “Supreme”, and “One Level Above Yours”. (Yes, it’s an 11-sided die.)
The profiler has determined that the subject is most likely a single white male, mid-to-late thirties, very methodical and likely to be a repeat offender.