making the leap

hey guys, i was a programmer a while ago in c++, python, basic, assembler and all the goods. i stayed in command line and microcontrollers though because i was intimidated by the code for visual and gui stuff. im a bit older now and think i can take it, i just need to know sme tings. where is the best place to learn gui, how much different is it from the regular c++, and do i need a special compiler or can i just use my bloodshed dev-c++? the stuff i am looking to get into is just, well at the moment having a window that says "hello world", and a button that terminates the window...... am i going to need to buy anything?

also, unrelated but important: i want to program my 16f684 pic controller so it can interface with my computer, just through command line or something simple. is that possible? i really want someone to tell me its as simple as including the header file <iostream>, because that would be so awesome. thanks guys.

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You can interface the 16f684 to any thing that understands RS-232. Many PIC's can adopt USB too, but if I'm not wrong it depends on the model. You'll have to write the drivers for your device yourself, though.

the make serial-to-usb adapters. about $35 i think i paid