Years ago we were writing some code involving windows telephony api. There was something wrong with one of the calls, it was not applying one of the parameters

Years ago we were writing some code involving windows telephony api. There was something wrong with one of the calls, it was not applying one of the parameters as documented in the api. Because of that we ended up dissembling it and making a binary patch to change a constant in a dll. We lost several weeks in the process. How long does it take Microsoft to fix a problem in an obscure dll that you depend on? Who knows.. This event made me realize if you are binding yourself to an operating system or any application thats is closed source, has opaque processes and almost no competition to make them improve it fast, there is good chance that one day you will end paying very dearly. I have other reasons to dislike Microsoft's attitude and practices but I gave this example because I still vividly remember the suffering and helplessness we lived that time. As for the Visual Studio comment, I used it and don't see anything special about it, If you are a Microsoft shop maybe it is good for you, otherwise, there are comparable - better IDEs out there to do the job.