I think I know c# pretty well and I'd like to try some c++ but I wonder what frameworks do you use for writing windowed c++ applications? I've heard about boost, stl (I used this one already in mixed mode c++/cli) win api and mfc. is there anything else? I have only a vague notion of the c++ world. I've also heard about the VS Feature Pack with plenty of additional controls. is it worth learning or do you prefer something else?

which technology/framework would you choose for example to write a chatting application or a CAD or a webbrowser or a wysiwyg editor?

what's most popular nowadays?