You are talking about two different animals. Right off the top if you
want to write code to run cross platform your best bet is Sun's Java.
Weather you use Netbeans, Eclipse or any other free or non free Java IDE
is besides the point..

Thanks in Advance...
IchBin, Pocono Lake, Pa, USA
http://weconsultants.servebeer.com/JHackerAppManager
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'If there is one, Knowledge is the "Fountain of Youth"'
-William E. Taylor,  Regular Guy (1952-)

These can hardly be compared in any meaningful way.  

I'm not a big fan of Microsoft (business practices, monoculture, etc.),
but I must admit a great fondness for Visual Studio.  It really is a
great environment to work in, provided what you're doing is programming
C++ for a Windows target.

But most of my work is in Java.  I use Eclipse for that.  I don't intend
to get into a comparative discussion about IDEs.  

If I'm editing at the file level, as opposed to the project level, I go
straight to vim every chance I get, no matter what language I happen to
be working in.  

If you have no programming experience you will find it easier to write
a program using Visual Basic Express Edition than using NetBeans.

If you have some programming experience, that is a very odd question
because it implies that you don't care about the underlying
programming language or the way your program will be used.

On the Java end, all the major IDEs are either free or offer a free
trial.  Just as you take your time picking wife, try each out and do a
small project before you tie the knot.

see http://mindprod.com/jgloss/ide.html

To have a pleasant experience, invest in 1GIG+ RAM before you start.

The most popular are Eclipse, Idea, and Netbeans.